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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859995">Vol.1: Prey of Shadows</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sk8terboy/pseuds/sk8terboy'>sk8terboy</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Dark Genesis Saga [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Childhood Trauma, Everyone Needs A Hug, Exploration of Mental Illness, F/F, F/M, Found Family, It’s a story 4 of us collaborated on, It’s funny i swear, Legendary Pokemon, Like stupid funny though, Lots of RPG references, M/M, Magic, Mental Health Issues, On second thought none of the writers have rights either, Pokemon, Pokemon Journey, Pokemon characters in a world without humans, Pokemon mystery dungeon references, Pop Culture, Post-Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time &amp; Explorers of Darkness &amp; Explorers of Sky, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Shithead children who can’t process information healthily, Swearing, Talking Pokemon, Trauma, Unrequited Love, We hope ppl like it oh god, We’re nerds what do you expect, hero’s journey, no one has rights, sometimes fourth wall break</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 07:06:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>60,953</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25859995</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sk8terboy/pseuds/sk8terboy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Through a series of events, six unfortunate Pokemon come together in a world that seems to be getting more and more dangerous as the days pass on. Without any ideas or means of finding out why, they travel across the continent followed by ominous shadows of their past and future.</p><p>The Tales of a found family consisting of a tired middle aged mother fox, a crazed dragon bat, an amnesiac cat, a depression ball, a lesbian bachelor and a distressed cabbage snake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Dark Genesis Saga [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. An Unexpected Encounter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>
  
  <br/>
  
  <br/>
  
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/liggyaa/">Anna</a>’s instagram account has more art and more slides of information on the story. She does all the main art.<br/><a href="https://www.instagram.com/taterstop/">Tate</a> does some art but usually human versions of them instead.<br/><a href="https://www.instagram.com/grease.m0nk3y/">Teddy</a> &amp; <a href="https://www.instagram.com/alesskevinkat/">Alessio</a> mainly write for the story.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>To be honest this might be our worst chapter but you got to start somewhere :,). It gets better after chapter 3.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Everything was dark, cold and wet. A small feline tried to make his way through the melting ice, however the hardened floor was slippery and frozen over the surface. He could feel his body trembling, and his legs were weak. Slowly and bit by bit, with a pounding head, he got himself up and began making his way forward, not knowing where he was headed. The feline's head was filled with panic and confusion, but also… Emptiness. It felt eerie, he couldn't recall anything. As he moved ahead, he was unaware of a large frozen structure that was blocking his path. As he was caught off guard, he gave in to the slippery surface and fell back over into the water. The Shinx had no clue how he was going to get out of here, his head was so dazed, and it was so dark here. During his struggle, in a sudden motion he heard a giant crack come from the darkness ahead of him, which led to something grabbing him, and pulling him up, causing him to yelp in fear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Evening was always Jack’s favorite time to go out for a flight to clear his head. Feeling the cooling breeze of the cave air and the sound of the small waterfall hitting the stream below, as it carved it's way through these icy caverns. The Noibat flew above, thinking through the days that had earlier followed him, bothersome ones they were, only to find a peculiar sight ahead of him.</p>
<p>A furry little creature, struggling it's way out of the ice cold water. He approached it and in a panic, manifested a string of purple light forming into a hand shape, smashing the frozen structure that was blocking his path. He then picked him up and tried to get him some air, no idea how long he'd been in there for. The Shinx screamed and tumbled backwards.</p>
<p>"Get away from me!" The small, shivering feline Pokemon exclaimed.</p>
<p>“What are you screaming for? I just saved your life!” The Noibat snapped back.</p>
<p>"Wh-what?" The blue furred Pokemon responded in puzzlement.</p>
<p>“Um hello? I just yanked you out of your ice bath!” Jack continued to explain himself.</p>
<p>"G-god my head hurts," The Shinx felt dazed. He took a moment to close his eyes and hang his head low, trying to process everything.</p>
<p>Jack began to take in who stood before him, a little Shinx, about the size of a small cub, shaking and seemingly dazed.</p>
<p>“A-are you ok? Do you feel like you're hungry?” He asked with concern.</p>
<p>"Now I'm thinking about it. Yeah, I'm really hungry," He could still barely figure out what kind of creature was talking to him.</p>
<p>The Shinx and the Noibat stood there for a moment. Jack contemplated putting his wings around the stranger for warmth, but thought otherwise since he quite literally just met the guy.</p>
<p>“Just follow me outta here and I'll take you to the nearest town to get warm and something to eat.”</p>
<p>The small feline’s head was still hanging heavy, but he followed the stranger out of the icy cave. His vision was getting more used to his surroundings. He noticed the icy walls, and the outside moonlight shimmering through the crystalline structures. Soon enough, the two made it out of the small cave, now surrounded by a woodland taiga.</p>
<p>As they proceeded further into the forest, Jack noticed that the Shinx was slower and tired still. He decided at that moment to lend a hand. Literally. Out of nowhere, the Noibat summoned a shadow in the shape of a hand, and picked up the small feline, gently carrying him along as he flew.</p>
<p>"Wh-what the hell is that!?" The electric Pokemon screamed in shock, his eyes widened. He had no idea what he was looking at, he felt his body shudder as he was lifted into the air.</p>
<p>“Ah, don't be such a baby. I'm just using some good old fashioned magic to help you out. Just relax and sit back.” The Noibat smiled at him with his teeth, his little fangs peeking out.</p>
<p>The Shinx now had a good view of the stranger he just met. He could now definitely tell he was a Noibat, but there was something oddly different about him. He was pretty sure regular Noibats weren’t capable of summoning shadows. He nodded back in response, trying to calm himself a bit. The electric Pokemon did not bother starting a conversation or asking questions. He gazed back and forth at his surroundings, taking everything in as his first new memory of a place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack saw in the distance a warm glowing amber aura coming from the up ahead clearing. The sounds of pan flutes and laughter filling the air, the smell of cinnamon and freshly peppered meals so thick you could almost taste it.</p>
<p>As they approached the source of light, they found themselves encountering a populated village. It had huge wooden pillars and platforms stacked against a cliffside, making it reach up to high altitudes. At the entrance hung a sign stating: ‘Tekani Village.’ Most of the Pokemon appeared to be flying types. Some leaving for a possible journey of their own, others looking banged up but at peace as they drew closer to the city's light. Talonflames, Staraptors, Pidgeots, and many more, all congregating together around this tower of rock. Small huts for homes with hammocks could be seen, the marketplace above booming with business, and the liveliness surrounding this place could be felt heavily in one’s heart.</p>
<p>The Shinx gazed around in wonder, almost overwhelmed with the amount of things there were to see. His mouth was watering at the sight of freshly steered fish that was at the marketplace, alongside many other delicious meals there were to be seen. Such as baked cinnamon pastries and more. It only made him realize how much he was shivering from hunger.</p>
<p>“Woah there bud, you're drooling quite a bit. You're really hungry huh? Well, don't you worry, your bestest savior is here to help!” Jack stroke a dumb heroic pose and smiled.</p>
<p>The lost feline stared at the foolish bat for a second in confusion, he couldn’t help but crack a grin at his hilarious pose.</p>
<p>The two headed into the nearest eatery, its roof was in the shape of an acorn, and had a small chimney puffing out multicolored smoke. They walked into the main area and were greeted by a bright and buzzing Beedrill waitress, she was smiling cheek to cheek, despite her intimidating drill clearly visible behind her. The Shinx could not help but feel a little intimidated by the huge bug Pokemon, but it was not his biggest concern. He just wanted to eat already.</p>
<p>“Well Hello There! Welcome to the Acorn Allegory! How can I help you with two cutie pies today?” The Beedrill had a friendly tone in her voice.</p>
<p>Jack looked over at the cat, and they exchanged a look. He turned back to the Beedrill to respond. </p>
<p>“Uh, yes we'd like a table for two and could we get that as fast as possible please? my friend here hasn't eaten since... well I actually don't know how long. Anyways, as quick as you can would be great!” The Noibat requested with haste, but as polite and friendly as possible.</p>
<p>The exhausted Shinx gazed at the Beedrill with a sense of urgency, all he could think of was to eat something warm.</p>
<p>She gave them a one-over glance and could see the feline looked quite small, even given its already petite form, so she decided to take the Noibat’s word for him.</p>
<p>“One table for two coming right up sweetheart,” The Beedrill called to the kitchen behind her, and then turned back towards the 2 youngsters with the same welcoming smile.</p>
<p>The small cat nodded, he and Jack made their way over to the table and sat down. He glanced around the eating hall. There were many different kinds of Pokemon hanging around, all seemed very cheerful. The platform they were on had a nice view over the woodlands, and the moon hanging in the sky.</p>
<p>The troubled feline took the time to try and think about what he could remember. He sat there in silence, with a sudden wave of anxiety that loomed over him as he realized he still had no recollection of, well, anything.</p>
<p>Jack had been watching the feline since they sat down. Noticing him taking everything in and how awestruck he was. He wondered where this kid could have possibly come from. The Noibat decided it was time to get some answers for himself out of him. </p>
<p>“Soo, um... how’d you, y’know, end up under that ice? I mean, from the looks of it you were down there for quite a while. When I pulled you out, your body was freezing cold, and in all honesty, you seemingly should have been dead. So I mean, just what I'm trying to say here is, um, who are you?” Jack looked kinda nervous and careful as he asked the Shinx, but proceeded anyways.</p>
<p>The cat took a moment to respond, "I don't know."</p>
<p>Jack looked dumbfounded, “Huh? Sorry, you don’t remember anything?” Finishing off his sentence with a shout. “Nothing? Nada?”</p>
<p>"Yeah. I really don't." The Shinx responded with honesty.</p>
<p>Jack’s eye twitched a little. “Mm ok, cool, rad, awesome.”</p>
<p>The feline felt pretty embarrassed, and nervous. He tried his best to try and remember even the smallest thing.</p>
<p>“Well, is there anyway you think I could help you understand or recall some stuff?”</p>
<p>"I'm not really sure." He sat down and tried to think about one thing that was dwelling on his mind. The one thing he could remember. There was a long pause until the Shinx uttered something softly, "M… Mylo."</p>
<p>“Hm? What was that you just said?” The Noibat’s voice increased in volume.</p>
<p>"It's my name. Mylo." he jumped a little by the bat’s sudden energetic reaction.</p>
<p>Jack looked in awe and then grinned. “It suits you!”</p>
<p>"Thanks." Mylo awkwardly responded, feeling a little embarrassed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After some time flew by, the duo had ordered their food, and were now waiting in anticipation. Mylo sat impatiently, his tail swept back and forth as he couldn't stop thinking about getting something to eat. "And your name is?" He questioned the Noibat, he thought that starting a conversation would pass time.</p>
<p>Jack was taken by surprise that he hasn't mentioned it yet. “Oh boy, how could I have forgotten. It's Jack!”</p>
<p>Just then, the waitress which was a Fletchling arrived with both of their orders. As she walked, she balanced both of their plates perfectly over her wings. Mylo's fish on the left covered in a thick warm sauce, Jack's soup on the right, basil covering it.</p>
<p>Mylo stared at the dish, his eyes were gleaming, he couldn't wait any longer. As the waitress set down their plates, the Shinx gobbled up his meal as fast as he physically could.</p>
<p>Jack gazed with stars in his eyes as he watched the feeble feline inhale everything before him. “Damn dude, you absolutely destroyed that dish!” He then proceeded to eat his soup and tried to do it at a faster pace but immediately burnt his tongue and cried out making a fuss.</p>
<p>"Need some water? I still have some left." the electric Pokemon tried really hard to hide his cackle at the end.</p>
<p>“Nah, I've never been better! In fact, I'm better than better!” The bat smiled.</p>
<p>A confused smile grew on Mylo's face. Jack was a very peculiar person, that was for sure. "Alright, if you say so," The Shinx dipped his head with a grin.</p>
<p>Jack didn’t know what made him feel this way in front of this guy, but he didn’t mind being an idiot for him if it made him smile.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the boys finished their meals, the waitress had returned with the bill, which Jack proceeded to pay.</p>
<p>The Fletchling advised them on a place to stay when they politely inquired on any hostels or inns nearby. With that, Jack and Mylo departed from the restaurant and began to explore more of the town they had arrived in not so long ago. They walked along the wooden platforms that clung against the tall mountainous cliff. Soon enough they arrived at the Inn they assumed the waitress was talking about. It was a simply built wooden structure, that had a sign hung above the doorway, 'The Sleeping Willow' written on it.</p>
<p>Jack and Mylo approached with heavy eyelids to the counter, exhausted from the night and desperately needing some shut eye. Jack, swaying back and forth from sheer exhaustion as he flew. “Hello? Is anyone here?”</p>
<p>At the reception was an Indeedee, she gave them a friendly, welcoming smile. "Hello, may I help you?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, we're looking for a room to stay the night."</p>
<p>"Of course, I have room 10 available for you. It has two regular sized beds, is that alright?" The Indeedee shuffled behind the counter, searching for keys.</p>
<p>Jack quickly glanced at Mylo. "Yeah, seems alright to me."</p>
<p>She placed the key on the reception desk and told them their rather expensive price for the night.</p>
<p>Jack rummaged through his bag again, and his ears drooped a bit as he looked back up with big puppy dog eyes. “Um, miss, I'm 10 poké short. Is there any way you could pardon us? We have been on a long journey and will only be here another night or so.”</p>
<p>The Indeedee paused for a moment, and sighed, "Fine, I can go with that. Just don't tell any of your friends or I'll get in trouble."</p>
<p>Jack squeaked in excitement and picked Mylo up with his shadow hand, taking off straight up to the room before she could change her mind, “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You won’t regret this decision Miss, I swear! And I won’t tell a soul!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two young Pokemon reached the room, as they unlocked it they were found with a small wooden interior with two separate beds that had delicate white sheets and a flat white pillow. There was a small dark wooden table between the two beds with a lamp that gave off an amber glow in the room.</p>
<p>Jack immediately threw his backpack on the bed, and settled himself down upon it, “Man that feels good on my back and ears, such a soft pillow.” He nuzzled his face into it deeper.</p>
<p>"Looks comfortable," Mylo’s tone was candid.</p>
<p>Jack looked at him with thought, but decided he was just settling in, “Hey, you know, if you need anything else. I'm here for ya. Feel free to ask, don't hesitate whatsoever.”</p>
<p>"That's very kind of you, thanks." Mylo felt grateful that he didn't wake up in that cave alone. He was very lucky to have someone like Jack helping him out. He wondered what made him so eager to help him in the first place.</p>
<p>“Welp. I think I'm gonna hit the hay for the night. After all, it's pretty late.” The bat turned over for a moment, but then turned his head back around. “G'night Mylo, sleep tight.”</p>
<p>“Goodnight,” Mylo yawned deeply, his body completely exhausted, a part of him was a little afraid to fall asleep again. What if he never woke up? Or what if he woke up and forgot everything again? He tried to suppress these thoughts so that he would be able to rest, but it was hard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Morning krept upon them, the soft light of the sun reaching through the blinds to gently nudge them to consciousness.</p>
<p>As soon as Jack’s eyes had opened, he energetically got up from his bed, zooming on to the floor as he began to stretch.</p>
<p>Mylo woke up a lot slower, as he noticed the loud ruckus of the Noibat’s morning routine.<br/>
He got up, and watched him for a prolonged moment before commenting, "You done?" There was a playfully mocking tone in his voice.</p>
<p>Jack stopped in the middle of his 12th wing push up and threw himself into a flexing pose. “I guess so, I mean, the gun show ain’t gonna take care of themselves,” He winked at him and continued to rotate through more ridiculous poses.</p>
<p>The Shinx rolled his eyes even harder this time, and shook his head as he puffed out air from his lungs in a sigh, "Let's get going."</p>
<p>Jack grabbed his bag, went over to the mirror, put his eyepatch on, and gave himself the old finger guns as he smiled, “Alright, whenever you're ready.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The Noibat and the Shinx made their way downstairs together, heading over to the open breakfast buffet filling the air yet again with the promising scent of sweets and fruits galore. Mylo looked over at all the options the buffet had, it was almost overwhelming the amount of choices there were. He selected a Sitrus berry, along with a warm pastry. Chomping everything down as fast as both could.</p>
<p>"So, what's the plan for today?" Mylo said with a mouth full.</p>
<p>Jack looked up with crumbs stuck in his fur, swallowing before thinking through what he said, “Well I mean, I figure we're gonna need to find someone of a medical background who can recover your memories or at least help us understand what's going on with you,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “And we're gonna need to find some more money. If you know what I mean.”</p>
<p>"Yeah, I would appreciate that. You have any ideas of where to look for someone like that? Also where do you plan on getting money from? A small job?" The Shinx threw out multiple questions at the Noibat.</p>
<p>Jack sighed at both of his responses. “To answer your first, probably an alchemist's shop, or a hospital. They are most likely to have someone skilled in those areas.” He then began to whisper the next part. “And as for your second, no dummy. I mean like pickpocketing.”</p>
<p>Mylo's eyes widened with a frown, "Pickpocketing? Isn't that like, wrong?" His whisper was a little louder than Jack's.</p>
<p>The small dragon Pokemon shushed him and looked around to see if anyone was staring, luckily no one was paying the two boys any mind. “Yeah, but only if you get caught. Lucky for you, I've been on my own and doing stuff like this for a while. So don't sweat it, we're gonna be fine.”</p>
<p>Mylo wasn't sure how to feel about Jack's idea, but he figured he wouldn't keep questioning it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After their breakfast, the Indeedee wished the boys good luck on their travels and retrieved their keys. As the two of them stepped outside, Mylo's eyes felt blinded by the bright daylight. He had been in darkness ever since he woke up from that ice cave, the light was very hard to get used to. He however loved the warm feeling of the sun on his fur, It was so comforting, he had pretty much forgotten what it felt like.</p>
<p>As the Shinx’s eyes began to adjust, he realized there was a lot about the town he hadn't noticed last night. There were many different kinds of shops at the marketplace, and several other huts with various specialities. One shop caught his attention, it seemed to have two Kecleons as the shop owners. There were many items and accessories there, and many customers.</p>
<p>Jack saw the Kecleon market as well, and with his hyperactivity at a full recharge, he grabbed Mylo’s paw and flew them over towards it to check out their wares and supplies. As they arrived, Mylo couldn't help but curiously gaze over all the different accessories. They had strange looking orbs, seeds, bags, scarves, weapons and more.</p>
<p>Jack picked up everything and anything, zooming all around the store. Showing his new friend something occasionally and then moving to go see something else.</p>
<p>A scarlet scarf caught Mylo's attention, its red color made it stand out from the rest, and the texture looked soft and comfortable. "How much is the scarf?" He asked the Kecleon, while pointing at it.</p>
<p>"Oh, that one would be 60 Poké." The Kecleon responded.</p>
<p>Jack noticed Mylo’s despair when he heard the price, and so he had an idea hatch inside his head. “Sir, can you put that scarf on hold for my friend here? Well have the money for it by the end of the day I promise you,” he flashed him a grin.<br/>
With that, he pulled the feline outside and began to look frantically about without any details given to the feline.</p>
<p>Mylo gave him an unwary look. "I don't know if this is a good idea," He whispered.</p>
<p>Jack shushed him. “Just... Stay behind me, and don't make any sudden moves."</p>
<p>And with that, the batboy took off, zooming so quickly between the crowd. Mylo only being able to make him out for a second before he’d move again, this went on for several minutes before he returned heaving for breath and with a large sum of cash and coins. “That should cover your scarf and extra.”</p>
<p>"W-wow, that was quick." The cat was surprised by his efficiency. He assumed Jack was experienced with doing this many times.</p>
<p>The Noibat was still breathing and gasping, “I told you. I’ve been on my own and doing stuff like this for a while.” He got quiet after saying this, facing away from the Shinx.</p>
<p>Mylo had a mildly concerned expression, he noticed Jack's quiet tone and wondered what drove him to end up living this way. He didn't want to push it so he decided to not question it.</p>
<p>"Well, thanks for the cash, I really appreciate it. Even though your method is not really lawful."</p>
<p>Jack turned back and for a moment had a neutral expression, but then flashed a fat smile and a thumbs up. The two made their way back to the market, the Kecleon had already recognized them.</p>
<p>"Ah I see you two have returned, I still have that red scarf you wanted." The shopkeeper grabbed the scarf from under the shop counter. Jack just smiled, he felt accomplished for helping Mylo out and using his skills for what he felt was something good for once.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The duo continued their search for any kind of medical centre, it was quite a busy place so things were hard to find, despite it not being a very large town. The wandering young Pokemon caught the attention of a Staraptor standing on a higher platform, looking below at the crowd. The large birdlike Pokemon landed right in front of them. "You two are looking for something? You look a little lost."</p>
<p>The Noibat eagerly glanced up at the tall Staraptor. “Yes actually, my friend and I are in search of a hospital or medicine hut of some sort? Could you help us out?”</p>
<p>"Ah yes, that is right at the lowest level of the town, nearest to the ground. You'll find it by the entrance," The large bird showed them the direction by pointing with his wing.</p>
<p>Jack grinned, pleased by the help.</p>
<p>With that, they made their way down to the ground level of the town, and came upon a hut that seemed to be utterly overcome with vegetation and seemingly abandoned. Vines covering the whole of the roof, and a door that seemed old and was rotting away. The boys approached cautiously, seeing as they no longer felt so confident that this was the right building the Staraptor was talking about.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Dubiously Qualified Doctor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Don’t trust doctors unless you know their qualifications kids!! ;)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“You sure this is the right place?" Mylo’s tone weaved with worry. </p>
<p>Jack looked at him and shrugged, “Maybe.”</p>
<p>"You wanna knock on the door?"</p>
<p>“Of course, I’ll be the brave one out of us two!” Jack tried to strike a hero pose, but was visibly shaking. Mylo seemed unconvinced but didn’t question it. </p>
<p>Jack approached the door and knocked quietly, “Hello? Anybody home?”</p>
<p>A hollow giggle twisted to life behind the door as it slowly creaked open. “That depends what you're looking for." </p>
<p>Jack swooped behind Mylo. “W-we came searching for medical help for my friend. He needs help with his memories. He has amnesia and can remember hardly anything besides his name.”</p>
<p>"This sounds interesting! Come in come in!" The voice was way more energetic this time. Mylo and Jack exchanged a look and slipped into the strange hut. Slipping out from the shadows, a creepy doll-like creature emerged. "Boo!"</p>
<p>The boys both shrieked, Jack leaping into Mylo’s paws like a damsel in distress. The Banette cackled happily at their response to her welcoming.</p>
<p>“You two boys sure do scare easily huh? Oh boy, I haven't laughed like that in ages,” the ghostly doll cackled more the longer she looked at them.</p>
<p>"And you are?" Mylo was a little out of breath.</p>
<p>She looked at them eerily, sending shivers down both their spines, then smiled. Her stitches around her mouth stretching more obviously to be seen.</p>
<p>“Who? Me, darling? My name’s Violet, charmed to meet you.” </p>
<p>Violet circled around them as she spoke. “Which one of you is the one in need of my powers today, huh? The amnesia one is who I presume should step forward right about now.”</p>
<p>Mylo hesitated briefly, but stepped forward as told.</p>
<p>The Banette smiled again, but this time, her teeth showed to the boy, they were a yellowish shade. “Ah, a Shinx with an issue? That isn't very common since you're all such a resilient band of an evolution line. Tell me child, when did your issue start? What led you here?” She lowered herself more to their level.</p>
<p>"Well, the issue is that I don't remember," the Shinx responded hesitantly.</p>
<p>“Yes! Yes! But how did you end up here? What has happened since you came here my boy? Speak, speak, and do so quickly, I'm not a woman who likes to waste time,” the haunted doll-like Pokemon twitched her head to the side.</p>
<p>"Well, I woke up in an icy cave. I think I was frozen in the ice... I'm not sure, but he found me, and helped me out,” He pointed at Jack behind him, “I don't remember anything about what happened before the ice cave." </p>
<p>The Banette stared him down with her large red eyes, “I see, and you really don't remember anything before you ended up under your icy demise, darling? Nothing at all?”</p>
<p>"I only remember my name."</p>
<p>She thought to herself for a moment, “Quite strange indeed.”</p>
<p>"Do you think there could be a way to cure it?" Mylo didn't want to ask too many questions, but he was really desperate for answers.</p>
<p>Violet turned around for a moment, and paused. She then turned back, and for the first time since they walked in she had dropped her smile and was now blank. “There is a possible way, but it is dangerous. We must collect some ingredients first before we can go through with it.”</p>
<p>"Ok. Do you need us to help with that?" The Shinx looked up at her.</p>
<p>Violet chuckled. “Well I mean, I'm not gonna just do this all for free and by myself. I just met you and I want to help, but I'm not gonna be the only one putting in effort here. I'm just far too pretty and busy for that kind of nonsense.” She then flipped her pointed and zig zagging head piece over her shoulder.</p>
<p>"Right, of course," Mylo responded politely.</p>
<p>The Banette proceeded to list the items that they needed to collect for her. They followed as such: a reviver seed, sleep seed and a couple sitrus berries. She recommended checking the market for the seeds and the forest at the edge of the town for the berries.</p>
<p>She looked them up and down and smiled, “Goodluck boys, you’re probably going to need some of that.” The last thing they saw was her wink before she suddenly shrunk into a cloud of shadows.</p>
<p>The two boys stared in a confused shock as the ghost suddenly poofed away, looking at one another as they took the initiative to begin their errand.</p>
<p>“She was interesting, huh?” Jack gently elbowed Mylo.</p>
<p>"Yeah, to say the least." The two proceeded to stroll outside Violet's strange hut, both feeling the sense of purpose to achieve the task. The Noibat thought to himself how he'd do anything at this rate to help this guy out, he'd been through enough afterall. </p>
<p>"I suppose we should check out the Kecleon market first, I saw a lot of seed looking items over there. Maybe they have something." The Shinx suggested to his new companion.</p>
<p>Jack nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good to me, let's head on over.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As they arrived back at the market, the Kecleon recognized them again. They briefly discussed their day before moving onto what they’d come to collect. The shopkeeper was only able to sell an X eye seed and reviver seed to them. With that, the boys purchased their items from Kecleon. After their shopping haul, they still had one final ingredient to retrieve, which sent them into the taiga forest outside the village.</p>
<p>"So the Kecleon said we could find the Sitrus berries in the trees, I suppose we should just look around at all of them till we find something." The Mylo’s gaze was fixated on the pines, searching for any yellow colored fruit.</p>
<p>“Yea, well lucky for you, you have the advantage of my awesome presence and mega fast flight as well as magic reflexes! Don't worry, I've got this!” With that, the Noibat took off again, just like in the markets. Zooming around from tree to tree, only able to be seen as a purple smudge through the air. It only lasted for so long before he landed back down onto the ground in front of his partner.</p>
<p>“Well, about that thing I said, turns out I can’t really find 'em that easily. And that might stem from the fact I’ve never really searched for Sitrus berries before and don't actually know what they look like,” Jack smiled with embarrassment, rubbing his hand behind the back of his head bashfully.</p>
<p>"Let's just keep looking. I'm sure they're out here somewhere." </p>
<p>Mylo was still really focused, and kept walking further into the woods. As he kept going, he noticed a yellow hue in one distant tree, right at the branches as it blended in with the green of the leaves. He trotted towards the tree, and leaned his forepaws on the bark of the trunk. </p>
<p>"Hey, Jack! Could you check up this one? I think I see berries!"</p>
<p>Jack's ears perked up at the opportunity to be useful, “On it!”</p>
<p>Mylo focused his vision to the branches of the trees, he could see the berries a lot better now. They were a soft yellow, with little spikes on the shell. He was pretty certain that those were the ones Violet was talking about.</p>
<p>Jack flew back down giving him a weird look this time, “Uh Mylo, I still don’t see what you're talking about, dude.”</p>
<p>"It's up there between the leaves and the branches. Just look carefully and you'll see ‘em," He reached out his paw, pointing in it’s direction.</p>
<p>The Noibat flew back up, but this time a lot slower and more reluctant. At first he didn't see the berries, that was until he squinted. “Woah! You could see this from all the way down there? That’s awesome!”</p>
<p>"I guess," His voice fell into a shy chuckle.</p>
<p>Jack thought to himself how he liked the sound of Mylo giggling very much, “We better head back to Violet’s now since we got all the stuff.”</p>
<p>"Yeah, hopefully we didn't make her wait too long." Mylo got ready to get a move on.</p>
<p>Jack caught up beside him, scooped him up. With that, the boys made their way back in the direction of the rotting hut feeling a sense of accomplishment wash over themselves through completing the required task.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mylo wasn't sure how prepared he was for Violet's procedure. He wasn't even sure what she was going to pull off, or what her intentions were, but he knew it was all he had at the moment. He and his odd companion stood in front of the wooden door that had lichen and moss growing over it.</p>
<p>Jack looked at his troubled friend’s expression before he pushed the door open, and saw his face seemingly deep in thought, or possible worry. The Noibat gently placed his clawed fingers on his head. “Hey, whatever happens in there, you don't have to worry, 'cause I'm gonna be here with you the whole time. I promise I won't let anything bad happen to you, cross my heart.”</p>
<p>Mylo gave Jack a surprised look at first, but was quickly turned into a soft smile, which lasted a little longer than he intended to, "Thanks."</p>
<p>As they pushed back into the hut, Violet reappeared very suddenly behind them as the door shut. “Oh? back so soon?” her voice came out in a soft and sweet yet still mocking tone.</p>
<p>Mylo was a little surprised by her sudden appearance, but then figured it was expected. The feline nodded at her question. </p>
<p>Violet's grin grew even wider than before, but her eyes narrowed. “Good, then let us not stall the ritual any longer.”</p>
<p>"Ritual?" </p>
<p>“Well yes, surely you know that in order to recover memories lost to the mysteries of time and accident can only be recovered through ritualistic practices of Dark Magic.” The Banette approached him and tilted his chin upwards to look up at her, making her look even taller than she already was. “Certainly, you werent dumb enough to assume this would be an easy and scott free task? to try and out-best the laws of the mind?”</p>
<p>Mylo shook his head attentively. "No, of course not."</p>
<p>Violet let go of the boy's chin and hovered away from him sassily, “Good, because from what I can tell so far, you are much smarter and more capable than to think such idiotic things.”</p>
<p>The Banette’s grin faded as she caught Jack’s expression and felt the emotion coming off him in waves, silence fell across the room. She took the moment to pause, and gazed at the Noibat and his anger toward her teasing of Mylo. Her expression was a little ambiguous, but it was definitely serious, "Fair warning, I know your kind, boy. As someone who has seen ones like you practice Dark Magic, I warn you to not overestimate your control. You have a friend with you so be careful." She watched him closely, towering over him like a looming shadow.</p>
<p>Jack’s glare did not waver, but his ears perked back up and his body stance and mouth went to normal. “Lady, with all due respect, you don't know a goddamn thing about who I am and what I'm capable of, but thanks for the advice.” He dropped his feet to the ground, and walked to the back to have a seat so they could commence the process. Mylo stood there awkwardly, not saying a word. He still wasn't sure how to feel about the topic of Dark Magic, he barely understood what it was, but his new friend seemed really defensive about it.</p>
<p>“Alright, no more nonsense. Let's get this ball rolling.” The Banette’s smirk returned. The ghost Pokemon stuck out her claw like hand for the ingredients. Jack unlocked his backpack compartment and gave them to her. She took the berries and seeds and put them aside next to her alchemy table so as to grind them. She disappeared again into shadows, seemingly going to collect some final tools and preparatory additions.</p>
<p>Mylo was hopeful for a possible cure to his current condition. He was hoping that this Banette could allow him to regain his memories, to know what kind of person he was, or what kind of life he had. A part of him also felt afraid of what would await him in his memories, he had no idea if he was even prepared to know anything about himself, as much as he wanted to. Due to the contradictions going on in his brain, he clawed the surface beneath him.</p>
<p>Jack noticed Mylo’s nervous clawing, so he flew over beside him and gently used his foot and put it over his to make him stop scratching. “Remember… I’ll be right here the whole time. I promised you, and I won’t let you down.” He then gently smiled.</p>
<p>The Shinx couldn’t understand why this guy was so willing to help him out. His kindness almost felt unnatural, yet something about it made him trust the Noibat, even though he still felt like there was a lot of mystery about him.</p>
<p>Violet reappeared from the cloak of her shadows, but in doing so she was moving in an almost trance-like state of serenity and calmness. She stopped in the middle of the brewery room. Walls aligned head to toe with concoctions bubbling, popping, and fizzing, colors exploding inside of glasses, some looked as though there were galaxies trapped inside. She turned to the boys and gestured with her hands for them to come forward, not speaking, only using her body to make them understand. Jack and Mylo did so, slowly inching till she raised her claw like hands to halt. She moved to the cupboard behind her, extracting from it some purple floral herbs that appeared to be glowing. Violet then grabbed one last item, a brush, and came back to where they were all gathered, laying the seeds and berries off to the side.</p>
<p>She took the mashed up remains of the purple flower that were now a paint-like paste, and ever so gently, began to trace out the spell tome on the floor. With each glyph, a soft but bright glowing purple light emitted from them. At the last one she layed down, a mist had now filled the room, the boys’ heart rates slowed and calmed. The time was now.</p>
<p>“Boys, I have set up the parameters that are required and have done everything in my power to assure this will be safe. But I have not done such a ritual in some time, so I can't promise that everything will go smoothly. Dark magic at this level is hard to control, because you’re still young I can't say that this won't awaken or change you afterwards. I promise, I will do my best to protect you and your friend.” She gently took Mylo’s paw, giving it a little kind squeeze. “Are you ready to proceed?”</p>
<p>"I-I don't know-" As the Banette touched Mylo’s paw, he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness. His hearing was clouded by a loud high pitched sound. He noticed he still felt conscious, but everything was hazy. He heard a voice he didn't recognise, but held a feeling of familiarity, yelling at him. It seemed angry, but also reeked with resentment. It was too muffled to understand a single word from it. Mylo could feel his heart racing and fluttering, he still had no idea what was going on. Was this Violet's doing? The world around him began to clear back to normal. He found himself crouched on the cold mossy floor of Violet's hut, with Jack and her looming over him with concerned looks on their faces.</p>
<p>“Mylo! Snap out of it!” Jack screamed like a Shakespearean maiden, “Oh God! he’s dead! Dead forever!”</p>
<p>Violet slapped the Noibat on the back of his head, “Use your eyes, you imbecile! he's awake!”</p>
<p>"What was that? Was that a part of your ritual?" The Shinx was still out of breath, panting through every word, and could feel blood roaring through his ears.</p>
<p>The Banette paused for a moment before she spoke, seemingly thinking over what would be the right words. “Child, you haven’t ingested any of the potion, and I haven’t even performed a single spell yet. Whatever just happened to you came from within, not from anything or anyone else.”</p>
<p>"W-within me? What the hell-" Mylo spoke under his breath, as he was still busy trying to comprehend what had just happened.</p>
<p>The haunted doll just stared at him. She grabbed his paw again, this time not squeezing, just holding it gently. “Maybe we can find out what it was by going through with this. I mean, look. The answers to figuring out who you are and what's going on in you might be locked away in the past, and if it's serious enough to make you pass out. You may want to try and reclaim the memory of why it's there.” Violet's voice changed tone, almost pleading. “Are you ready to do this? Because I won't go through if you aren't prepared.”</p>
<p>“I think we should just get this over with.” his face was downcast.</p>
<p>Suddenly, Violet yanked Mylo forward into her arms. “I-I lost my own baby once to a ritual practice. It was the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life. I promise you sweetheart, I won't send you up there to join her. Not on my watch.”</p>
<p>She slowly let go, and turned away so he couldn't see her. Then she turned around again with a classic not-so-creepy-anymore smile. “Well, let's get this show on the road!”</p>
<p>The feline felt uncomfortable by the sudden information he had just learned. He didn't want to dwell on it too much, because he could tell she wasn't willing to be mourning at the moment. He locked gazes with Violet for a brief moment, and nodded in response, to show her he was ready. Violet returned it with an ensuring smirk, and began to prepare for the ritual. </p>
<p>Violet signalled Jack to back away. "Step back please, I don't want you to get injured." With those words both Mylo and Jack had concerned expressions. "Oh don't worry, Mylo will be fine, but you know I just want to make sure nothing is in the way of my work!" She giggled a little. Jack still looked unconvinced, but backed away regardless.</p>
<p>She turned back, facing the Shinx. "Now you need to trust me, because your brain has to be relaxed in order for this to work. I know that can be a bit tricky so I will help you with that." Violet grabbed a potion that had a Sleep Seed on the label. It was deep purple in color, it had a shining complexion, as if a galaxy of stars were captured in one tiny bottle. </p>
<p>Violet turned to the rune on the floor, gesturing to Mylo to lay atop of it. As he walked over it, he felt another deep feeling of calm run up through his paws into his frontal part of his brain. It felt like a light set of fingers were running themselves all over its surface, and immediately, he buckled his knees collapsing on the ground, already drowsy. </p>
<p>The Banette hovered around him in circles, waving her arms and moving her legs in ways that looked as though someone was controlling her like a puppet. Chanting under her breath a mysterious and eerie incomprehensible sentence, again and again and again, till suddenly she halted. She became as still as an oak tree standing in the winter, bare with no leaves of emotion, and unbending in its strong stance. She took the potion from where she placed it carefully, and inched her way toward the kitten on the ground, like a cobra about to strike its prey, infatuating.<br/>
Jack whilst staring backed away from the madness noticed how Violet's eyes appeared to be swirling in a spiral, round and around like a merry go round, he couldn't break away those eyes, and neither could Mylo.</p>
<p>She closed in on the child, uncorking the potion. Tilted his chin upward, gently opening up his maw, as she poured the universe encapsulated liquid inside. Using her fingers ever so gently, sliding them down his throat so as to make him swallow it all. Mylo was in a complete state of hypnosis. Violet brought the young kitten then into her arms, rocking him gently now, still keeping the eye contact. </p>
<p>“May Arceus protect you along the way.” </p>
<p>Mylo felt his dazed world engulf into darkness. His mind felt like a vacuum of empty space, nothingness. The flow of time didn't exist. His time in this dark void felt as long as an eternity and as quick as a second at the same time. The darkness soon turned itself into a night sky, as a large crescent moon came into existence, filling his whole vision. A voice that began muffled, started to clear, becoming audible to Mylo. A soothing, feminine, and ethereal voice. </p>
<p>"I'm sorry, I know you won't understand this right now but you will find that it is for the greater good." The voice felt so familiar, it felt like a memory. Mylo could feel himself choking on his gasp, the revelation of a forgotten memory hit his body like a crashing wave of emotions and thoughts. The memory was unclear, but it was real. It felt real. The crescent moon was fading as his mind was spiralling through the dark space. His heart rate was spiking, all he could hear was the intense rapid beating of his heart, his body felt as if it was going at an extreme speed through space and time. He started to see a light. The light was getting brighter. He could finally feel the ground. </p>
<p>He gasped loudly, he could almost feel tears in his eyes. His body felt weak and was trembling excessively, but he felt awake. His vision was still unfocused, as he was still trying to get himself back together, and make his body feel used to the gravity beneath him.</p>
<p>“Mylo? Mylo, it's time to wake up darling. It’s time to come back to us.” </p>
<p>She cracked some sort or herbal stick under his nose, meant to wake him up. The scent of strong herbal flora overwhelmed his consciousness, his blurry vision was slowly returning to normal as Mylo was finally collecting himself again. </p>
<p>Violet stuck out her hand and took his paw, pulling him up to his feet gently so as to not make him dizzy. “Well, you made it through that alive, so check that off the list. Now the real question is, did it actually do anything for you?”</p>
<p>"I think so," He still kept his gaze low to manage his dizziness.</p>
<p>“Wait here, I'll go fetch you something to eat that'll replenish your energy.” The Banette looked over at Jack, who was still visibly trying to restrain himself from running over right away to Mylo’s side and tackling him in a hug from fear he wouldn't be okay. </p>
<p>“You watch him and make sure he doesn't go anywhere or pass out while I cook. That is try and do it to the best of your capability.”</p>
<p>Jack ran over to Mylo as fast as he could, no longer able to contain himself. He threw his body full force into him as he gave him a hug. </p>
<p>“Oh thank goodness you’re alive! I was so worried! 'Cause you looked so dead, and then you just started murmuring things so then I thought you were possessed and then I was gonna try and do an exorcism on you even though I don’t know how! Violet told me everything would be okay and- but you’re alive!” He squished the Shinx further into his furry chest.</p>
<p>Mylo's eyes widened, the world around him dazed. The cub let out a deep sigh, expressing his exhaustion but also relief. "Thanks for helping me out." He murmured softly, it was almost inaudible.</p>
<p>The bat took a moment before he answered back his small showing of gratitude, “I promised you I wasn't going to let anything bad happen. That I'd be there the whole way, and I meant it when I said it.” He grinned.</p>
<p>Just then, Violet came back into the room with a platter full with an array of cookies, cakes, puffs, and berries. She set it down before Mylo. “Eat as much as you can, as I'm guessing if you're planning on leaving soon. You're going to need to replenish quite a lot of energy before you can use those paws of yours. Whilst your eating, try to also think back what you saw during the ritual. To the best of your ability.”</p>
<p>The feline nodded, and grabbed the Sitrus berry nearest to him to start eating it. As he gobbled down some of the berries he already began to feel a lot better. He spent this time mostly quiet due to still being deep in thought about what he had seen. As he was collecting his thoughts, he grew more and more disappointed with the vision. He expected he would gain his memory back, or at least know a little more about himself, where he came from, who his family was, who his friends were. No, it was nothing, just a moon and a strange voice. A subtle frown grew over his face the more he thought of it. The disappointment eventually transitioned into hopelessness. Mylo felt a lump in his throat, which caused him to lose his appetite. He gently pushed his unfinished berry away from him.</p>
<p>The Noibat cautiously questioned, “Mylo, are you alright? You haven't said a word since you've woken up besides ‘Thank you’s’.”</p>
<p>"I'm fine. I didn’t see much. Just heard a weird voice and I think I saw a moon? It was a crescent moon. I don't know if it's important but it's the only thing I saw." His face quirked up as he was responding to Jack's question, but his expression fell a little towards the end as he was trying to recall his supposed memory.</p>
<p>“A crescent moon you say? Well that can mean quite the range of things, between curses to powers to representation of Pokémon. The moon in any form normally signifies strong magical exuberance. What I’m trying to say, children,” Violet dipped her head for a moment, “is that Mylo may be experiencing a memory having to do with high level manifestation magic.”</p>
<p>Mylo frowned as he continued recollecting, "Something about the voice however, it felt strangely familiar but also not. I don't know how to explain. It was like a feminine voice, really calm, almost angelic. It felt like the moon was speaking to me. I’m sorry, I know that doesn't make any sense."</p>
<p>The ghost Pokemon’s face went from calm to unsettled in a matter of moments as soon as she heard Mylo’s words. She whispered very fast under breath, seeming to be in a panic, she ran over to a shelf of her books, then about looking for one in particular. When she found the one it was apparent, it was a book in the shade of a deep blue lit up night sky, with pure silver detailing on it. She flicked through its pages in search of one in specific, and when she found it. Her murmurs slowly came to a realization. “But nobody’s seen her in years! Not possible. But there’s no denying it. Everything that matches the description is there. Dear Arceus.”</p>
<p>The electric Pokemon frowned at Violet, confused and curious at what kind of revelation had just occurred in her mind. Violet stood still for a moment, as though she stood before a battlefield at the end of the blood bath. Then she turned slowly back to Mylo and dropped to her knees so she could be eye to eye with him. </p>
<p>“Cresselia. That’s the name of the Pokémon I theorize might be involved with this. I think that that was the voice you were hearing. She is a Legendary Pokemon that represents the crescent moon. My child, given the knowledge I have of her, and that anyone has written about her illusitivity, there is one thing that we know for sure. Many signs point to this. Mylo, it appears as though you are suffering from a curse, to which could likely be her doing.”</p>
<p>"A curse?" A tinge of panic rose in Mylo’s voice.</p>
<p>“I presume so. That strange vision you had was not out of ordinary, I think there must’ve been magic involved somehow, and perhaps it could also link to your amnesia. Of course I must warn you that all of this is speculation, but it is important in finding out what happened to you,” Violet explained.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Down south of here, in the swamps lies Aldora Village. It has a very huge library with an array of different books, and many about Legendary Pokemon and mythology. I suggest that you and your friend go check that out and see if you can find any new information. I do have a friend over there who could help show you around. You will recognise her as a Delphox."</p>
<p>"Aldora Village? How long would you say the journey there is?" Jack inquired.</p>
<p>“Not too far, it’s about a two day journey by foot. By wing maybe a little less, so I’d recommend you prepare yourself with food to cook for dinner out in the wild, as well as sleeping arrangements.”</p>
<p>The now somewhat recovered patient gazed up at the Banette with a softened expression, grateful for the help she was able to give them. "Thank you so much. I have no idea how I could ever repay you."</p>
<p>Their doctor paused for a moment, and then cracked a warm loving smile. “When I lost Opal, I was broken and didn’t know how to function anymore. I was alone and I have been that way for a long time, but you two, coming here,” a still pause settled over them for a brief moment, “It brought back memories of good times I had with her, my child, my love, because you both remind me of her. Thank you... For giving me the interaction I needed so bad, and for bringing back the good remembrance of my daughter. You are always welcome here, come whenever you may.” With that, she approached the Shinx and gave him a gentle hug, then doing the same to Jack. </p>
<p>“Now, skedaddle. You have things to do and places to be boys.”</p>
<p>Mylo gave her a soft smile of gratitude in return, and made himself ready to leave together with Jack.</p>
<p>Jack was holding back tears welling up and sniffing the dribbles of snot coming down. “In a while, Sandile.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they finally touched down back at the markets, Jack walked forward very quickly. Refusing to look back in the direction of the house, instead straight to the Kecleon market, as though it would hurt him too much to look back.</p>
<p>The market was a lot more crowded now, due to it being the afternoon. Mylo and Jack made it at the back of the crowd, peering over to see what was in sale at the moment. Jack spotted out of the corner of his eye something shiny, he fluttered over towards it. When he finally got close enough, he held the item in his tiny claws, and noticed its yellowish fill ins as-well as the deep black irises, its light glass surface smooth as can be. A prosthetic eye.</p>
<p>He appeared to ponder at it for quite a while, and then, ever so carefully he approached the counter. When he spoke, he did so softly, “How much?”</p>
<p>The Kecleon peered curiously over the young Noibat. "Oh, that is a prosthetic eye if I'm not mistaken. Prosthetics are fairly expensive, one costs around 15,000 Poké."</p>
<p>Jack's ears dropped past his head, and he still spoke softly, “Oh, well, is there any way you'd drop the price a little? It would mean a lot to me.”</p>
<p>The Kecleon's eyes fell somber with sympathy. He paused for a moment to think of a decision. "I will lower it to 9,000 Poké. Is that ok? Also please don't spread this as a rumor because I am only doing this as a special occasion."</p>
<p>Jack's face lit up, and tears filled his eyes, but he was smiling and flapping his wings as though he were an excited hummingbird. He flew over the counter and hugged the Kecleon profusely. “Thank you! This means so much to me!”</p>
<p>He excitedly grabbed the eyeball and very carefully pulled off his eyepatch, revealing what lay underneath. Three large shaped claw marks over his eye. They were long and looked as though they healed over a long period of time due to how deep of an imprint they left. He noticed Mylo staring at him, and grew uncomfortable. “You don't have to look if you don't want to. I won't be upset if you think it’s gross.”</p>
<p>"You don't have to hide yourself from me." Mylo gave him a small smile, not too much because he knew this was probably a sensitive topic for Jack.</p>
<p>“Thank you, I'm glad it doesn't freak you out." With that, he gently opened his eyelid, and it became most apparent his eye had been completely torn out, nothing but a hole remaining. He took the eyeball and gently let it roll into the socket, closing his eyelid and blinking it a few times. He held his face up, the Shinx seeing his face completely clear for the first time, and wearing the most authentic smile. </p>
<p>“How handsome do I look?” He emphasised by flexing non existent muscles.</p>
<p>Mylo grinned and shook his head in amusement. "Sure thing." He teased.</p>
<p>Jack fake pouted, continuing his act, “Me? Not being beautiful? Unheard of.”</p>
<p>The feline rolled his eyes, but his grin remained. "Ok pretty boy, let's get some more items to prepare for our journey."</p>
<p>Jack slipped out a flustered smile, his eyes squeezed shut with pleasure from Mylo calling him pretty. “Y-yes let’s go.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After collecting what they needed, they managed to break free of the crowded marketplace, and headed downwards to the entrance of Tekani Village. </p>
<p>Ahead of them was a widespread taiga, populated by tall spruce trees, and a couple of birches in between. The woods looked vast, worthy of a hardy journey. The naive blue feline couldn't help but feel some excitement to go out into the world.</p>
<p>Jack hadn’t been on an adventure out in the wilderness like this for a very long time. Time for a much different ending than his last. The purple bat looked over to the Shinx beside him and saw the wonder in his eyes. It reminded him of his very first time exploring, and it made him feel braver, like he needed to have strength and push forward for him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Violet:<br/></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Good For Nothing Thief</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Y’all don’t understand how much pain it was going through chapter 1 &amp; 2, chap 3 really was the saving grace.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They started their journey by following a somewhat open path through the vast taiga. The further they got through, the more rough the path would get. The giant pine trees danced with the howling wind that echoed throughout the woods. Overgrowth could be seen everywhere, ferns, weeds, thistles, brambles and more. The forest varied in altitudes, and resembled mountainous geography, as the path would go up and down steep slopes of rocks. A calm atmosphere covered the woods, the smell of terpene clouded the air in a pleasant escence.</p>
<p>Jack fluttered beside Mylo and took in the wonderful surroundings. He couldn’t help himself, he just wanted to sore high up above the clouds for a moment, to taste the sky above the trees. “Oi, Mylo, would you mind if I flew up high for a sec?”</p>
<p>Mylo’s attention to his surroundings was broken as he quickly glanced over at his new friend. “Oh, sure!”</p>
<p>The bat immediately took off into the air, his wings straining as they lifted his body off the ground creating a circle of air pushing outwards, rocketing towards the clouds. The air felt fresh and harsh, yet the sun beat down in waves on his fur even harder from up here than down on the ground. Senses feeling heightened from indulging in his instincts. A smile creeped onto his face, both from the situation he’d been given but also at the blessing of having wings to which he could use to escape whenever and to wherever.</p>
<p>His flightless friend watched as he took off to the skies, admiration warming his body, and a tinge of jealousy, wishing he could join him by his side. Moving his body forward, he kept his gaze fixated on the skies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few hours passed, Jack started his descent down to the Shinx. He was eager to use the opportunity to get to know him more, despite his very little knowledge in, well, everything. “So, I know you don’t really have any memories or anything at the moment, but what can you tell me about yourself?”</p>
<p>Mylo shrugged uncomfortably, not really knowing what to say. "Well, my name is Mylo. I'm a Shinx. I don't have many memories of my life, woke up in an ice cave and yeah. That sums it up."</p>
<p>Jack nodded his head at every second word, overly eager to listen to everything he had to say. “And what sir Mylo, is your favourite color? Mines purple! Obviously.” Gesturing to himself.</p>
<p>"Oh. Color? Well hm," He took a brief moment to look at his surroundings, noticing his own fur as he looked down. It reminded him of the color of the sky. "I suppose blue?"</p>
<p>Jack followed up, using his chatter to fill the space between them, “Blue’s a great color! It's calming and balanced. Worthy of a young man such as yourself.”</p>
<p>“What else, what else, what else?” tapping his head as though it would jog something out.</p>
<p>“Oh, I know!” Jack hopped so that his body was now turned directly to Mylo while he walked sideways.</p>
<p>“Mylo the Shinx, what is your favorite food?”</p>
<p>He thought for a brief moment before responding. "I did really like that fish I had, but that was probably just because I was starving. You know, these Sitrus berries do taste wonderful though."</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, Sitrus berries always hit the spot. I remember when my mom used to give me those on- oh actually, nevermind.” The Noibat trailed off.</p>
<p>Mylo hesitated before asking, but he couldn't help but wonder, "Say uh, you say you have parents but I don't see them anywhere. Are they in a different town?"</p>
<p>Jack’s face was unwavering and emotionless, it was as though a curtain had been dropped down from the question being asked, “Yeah. We don’t talk anymore.”</p>
<p>The cat noticed how he didn't seem incredibly emotional about it, but there was something there he was hiding. He figured Jack wouldn't want to dwell on it right now. "Oh, I'm sorry. We can talk about something else if you want."</p>
<p>The Noibat was very quiet for a moment. He was somewhere else in his mind. He winced at the recollection of his memory. As soon as Mylo spoke, he shook himself out of his head, “I think that would be for the best.”</p>
<p>His companion’s expression grew into a concerned frown, for the sake of their journey it was best to not pry, especially since they only just met. However for Mylo he already felt like he could trust him, it surprised him for a second that he only just met this guy. Then again, he was the only person that had helped him so far and the only person he ‘knew’.</p>
<p>“Hey, you know, I'm sorry for just now. Like I don't wanna make things weird for you because honestly, you’re the first friend I've had in awhile,” Jack spoke with a sincere tone.</p>
<p>"Don't worry, nothing can really get weirder than waking up in an ice cave without memories. I really appreciate all that you're doing to help me." Mylo joked and smiled softly.</p>
<p>His newly acquainted friend’s heart skipped a beat, a blush spreading across his cheeks, “Ha, I guess so, and it's nothing really I'm just, you know, I just, psh, you know, I'm just helping you cause, like, yeah.”</p>
<p>The blue mammal grimaced in amusement, he figured he didn't want to be left hanging, so he chuckled a little and broke eye contact. Marching forward through the woodlands with a newfound determination.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The young adventurers journeyed deeper into the forest one step at a time. Mylo walked a little faster in front of Jack’s flying so they wouldn’t get attacked from either end by surprise. The more they walked the more both got enthralled by the greenery and flowers that appeared left and right.</p>
<p>Halfway through their hike the Noibat squinted his eyes, as he began to spot quite the odd sight in the distance, a small figure collapsed near a large tree. Jack glided in front of Mylo, leading them both through the vegetation, and soon enough, Mylo started to have trouble seeing in front of him. The grass all around was tall and thick. The Noibat exclaimed from above, “Dude! There’s someone over there! It looks like they’re unconscious?”</p>
<p>The kitten cocked his head up towards Jack, "What? Unconscious?"</p>
<p>“We have to help them, dude. Come on, follow me!” Jack took off quickly, but still flew in where he presumed to be Mylo’s vision, allowing him to see the direction in which he was headed.</p>
<p>Mylo tried to manoeuvre through the incredibly tall grass, he still could barely see anything in front of him. He looked up again at Jack, and nodded at his command. He carefully jogged into the direction the Noibat was flying, in the hopes of not tripping over some twig. The cat ended up speeding up as he got the hang of the terrain.</p>
<p>"Am I close?" he called out loudly to his friend.</p>
<p>Jack answered back from the branches, “Yes! Keep going, you're right in front of them,” he gasped, “It’s an Eevee!”</p>
<p>"An Eevee?" Mylo echoed, becoming more focused on sprinting.</p>
<p>“Come on, we’re almost there,” he zoomed ahead of Mylo to the large tree, landing as gracefully as he could next to it.</p>
<p>Mylo pushed one last sprint out of himself, and then abruptly stopped as the unconscious Eevee’s form was slumped a few inches from his paws with Jack right next to it.</p>
<p>"Is it dead?"</p>
<p>Jack gave him a squinted look. “No you absolute Chimchar, they're still breathing! Can't you see?”</p>
<p>Jack pulled a stick from god knows where and proceeded to poke it gently.</p>
<p>“Uh, what now?”</p>
<p>Mylo carefully bent over to take a closer look at the fluffy Pokemon. He noticed several cuts and bruises on the individual, as well as matted fur. They must've been through a lot from what he could tell. He shrugged, "Dunno."</p>
<p>While they contemplated their moves, the body shifted slightly. Before in a sudden flurry of movement, the Eevee pounced onto Mylo, knocking him over.</p>
<p>“It’s alive!” The bat jumped back and shrieked.</p>
<p>"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" The Shinx shrilled.</p>
<p>The Eevee weazed out a triumphant sound, “Take that, bitch! Would you stop fucking wiggling, Jesus.”</p>
<p>"Wh- Help!" Mylo continued.</p>
<p>As the Eevee continued to half wrestle the Shinx onto the soft ground, her paw carefully inched towards his pouch and snatched it from it’s hold on his belt. The cat distracted as she did so. Giving one last shove to his chest, she scrambled off and dashed into the woods in the opposite direction from where the two came from.</p>
<p>Jack scrambled up into the air and tried to catch up, but the Eevee was too quick. She’d already taken her new goods and was in no way prepared to stay.</p>
<p>“Fuck, we gotta go after her!”</p>
<p>"Hey, That’s ours!" The purple Pokemon yelped at her. She was skilled enough in evading him and his attempts to seize her. He let out a growl of frustration.</p>
<p>Mylo scrambled to his paws, his claws clenched into the dirt, "She took our food!"</p>
<p>The thief ran as fast as she could, her heart pounding in her chest as she dodged branches and jumped over roots to escape the young and kind of funny looking pair. Sweat dripped from her forehead with the adrenaline of a good chase and the fear of being caught.</p>
<p>The Eevee was quick, but Jack's wings made him faster. He dodged branches just as efficiently as she did and soared over the rocks and vines, which slowed her down. When he guessed he was close enough, he dive bombed her, pushing them both into the ground, “Gotcha, Bitch!”</p>
<p>“Get your slimy dirty hands off me, pest!” The chestnut mammal snarled.</p>
<p>“Pest? Pest!? Who are you calling pest, you fuck? You’re the one who took our food!”</p>
<p>The brown feline attempted a roll in order to detach herself from his clasp on her fur, accidently ripping some off as she managed to get out of the hold.</p>
<p>Mylo finally caught up to them and leaped in front of the Eevee to stop her in her tracks. Batting his paws against hers in an effort to trip her up. He was taken aback by her swift movements, and felt quickly overwhelmed.</p>
<p>Not noticing the Shinx's panic, the Eevee tried with all the energy she had left in her to out dodge him as best she could. Mylo took another large and harsh swipe at her in a moment of desperation, knocking her fully unconscious to the ground.</p>
<p>The young boys both approached the now still Pokemon, seeing that she was actually passed out this time. “Well. That's over I guess.” Jack grabbed the stolen berries back and began to walk off in the direction they were heading in before, coincidently the same one their thief was running.</p>
<p>"I didn't mean to do that, but ok," Mylo mumbled as he looked down at the exhausted Pokemon. He was honestly surprised at how quickly she managed to steal from them after just waking up from being supposedly ‘unconscious’. Based on her condition, she seemed to not be in the best of condition.</p>
<p>Mylo murmured out, "We can't leave her."</p>
<p>The Noibat stopped in his tracks. "Sorry, um, what was that? I don't think I heard you correctly." He giggled sarcastically and slowly turned to him.</p>
<p>Mylo's expression and tone grew more serious in response, but his attention was still on the Eevee. "We. Can't. Leave. Her."</p>
<p>Jack's plastered smile dropped and he was now visibly angry, "Mylo, she tried to steal from us. She hit you most of all, that's not okay. She's just another one of them. A bully," He sighed, “She hasn't earned our kindness.”</p>
<p>All the boy could do was frown at Jack. "Do you see her? She's hurt. She's probably been through a lot, we can't just leave her here to die."</p>
<p>Jack's tone hid none of his anger, "Why do you want to be her fucking hero all of a sudden? She tried to steal from us. Why would that warrant us needing to be her savior? Someone else can come along and clean up her fucking mess!” he seethed and puffed out now, flying over them both.</p>
<p>Mylo's eyes widened in disappointment and surprise. "What’s wrong with you? She is not an evil Pokemon! Look at her! She’s probably scared and alone. You can’t just assume anything!" Mylo's body bristled and buzzed, his paws stood firmly with unsheathed claws. He held strong eye contact with Jack, waiting for a needed change in attitude.</p>
<p>They stared each other down a little longer, Jack breaking the tension by exhaling and giving his companion a lighter face. His mood not changing to anything better. "Ok fine, we can take her with us, but I’m still not gonna be happy about it,” he turned around in a comical huff, "I’m sorry for yelling."</p>
<p>The Shinx’s stance relaxed, and his expression calmed, "Thank you for cooperating."</p>
<p>Jack nodded silently, and turned his face away. "You wanted to save her though so you gotta carry her, Mr Big Hero."</p>
<p>Mylo rolled his eyes, "Fine." He made his way over to the knocked out Eevee, and pulled her onto his back like a sack of potatoes. "Alright, let's keep moving. We still haven't found a place to stay the night, and if we don't hurry well, we're gonna have to camp in these woods."</p>
<p>Jack gasped and his eyes twinkled, "Did someone say camp?"</p>
<p>"And I suppose you would know how to make camp out here when all we have is a bag of berries?" His tone was flat and unimpressed.</p>
<p>Jack’s ears and whole demeanor except his wings drooped, his pupils grew wide and glistening. "Man, I hate it when you make good smart points. It ruins all my good ideas."</p>
<p>Mylo felt a little bad after the bat’s reaction, he didn't mean to crush him like that. The Noibat swung his wing around his shoulders, careful not to knock over the Eevee on Mylo’s back. "With our two big brains and bravery? We’ll definitely figure it all out."</p>
<p>Mylo let out a small chuckle, matching Jack's positive demeanour, even though his face still remained fairly serious as an aftermath of the argument. “If you say so."</p>
<p>"Alrighty, let's get moving then."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They continued back on the beaten up path, this time with an unconscious stranger. The four legged boy struggled a little at the start to keep the Eevee on his back comfortably, but as he walked further, the more he was relieved that the Pokemon was smaller than him. He watched Jack flutter ahead of him, gliding through the woods at a steady pace.</p>
<p>Jack continued to ponder who the stranger Mylo was so happily transporting on his back was and why she thought she had any right at all to attack them in such a way when all they did in the first place was check to see if she was okay. More so, how Mylo could just look past the deception and theft, and give her kindness back. Jack thought back to the wrongs that had been done consistently to him and got hot under his fur, but did his best to keep it under control.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>
  
</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Hollows</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Another character ba-bing. To those coming from the link in our bio’s and have seen the art, its a fun one ;)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack, Mylo, and their new counterpart rushed forward from the greenery around them into yellowed patches of weeds and dirt, oak trees sparse of leaves and arms gangling about, and a thick fog floating around making it feel as though they were in a whole new world entirely. They approached more and more slowly till they reached the entrance of a gate in the style of cemetery ones, skinny long iron bars above decorating the top of the gate in old swirly cursive ‘Welcome to the Hollows’.</p><p>Mylo studied the sign with his eyes squinted, "The Hollows?"</p><p>Jack looked at Mylo with unwavering excitement. “It’s ominous, spooky, and located in the woods. Just my kind of place, let’s go!”</p><p>It was surprising to Mylo that the Noibat didn't even seem a little bit concerned, "You sure you don't wanna be careful? We don't know this place and it doesn't look very welcoming."</p><p>Jack gave him a calm look, "I mean, I guess so, but I don't see much personally pointing towards big danger vibes. You can trust me."</p><p>Mylo pondered his seeming naivety, he did agree with him however. Through all of this time Jack has been there for him and helped him, he was the only thing he could trust at the moment. The feline nodded, and proceeded to enter the town by the bat’s side.</p><p>As they walked forward, the fog began to clear more and more, until they arrived at what appeared to be a completely abandoned town, dating probably back to when humans were still around. There were tall towering skinny houses that were worn down into awful conditions. All the windows knocked out and dead rose bushes still somehow blooming, but instead of red, they were a glowing deep shade of purple. They didn't see anyone around.</p><p>"What in the name of Giratina is this place?" The Shinx glanced around, feeling a little uneasy.</p><p>"Dude, I think we're in an abandoned human town. This is so radical!” Jack exclaimed in excitement.</p><p>"Abandoned human town? Didn't know these still existed," Mylo muttered softly, barely audible. There was still an odd sensation he felt about this place, he didn't feel like they were alone.</p><p>"Aw, is de wittle Shinxy scared? It's ok, don't sweat. Your kickass Noibat is here to save the day, and I can assure you it's just us here, dude. I mean just look around, sure looks like a broken down dump to me.” Jack spoke in a lighthearted, almost mocking tone.</p><p>"Right," The feline’s expression still showed that he wasn't convinced.</p><p>As they continued, a low echoing noise suddenly crept through the town, leaving the two paralyzed in fear. Mylo froze in his stance, and glanced over at Jack. "D-did you hear that?"</p><p>Faint otherworldly giggling clouded the atmosphere of the desolated town. Out of the darkness, eyes gleamed from every corner of the damned place. Mylo wanted to let out a scream, but he felt too scared to even react.</p><p>The shadows started turning into different animated shapes, of which ghostlike Pokemon emerged from. There were probably hundreds of different kinds of Pokemon that had swarmed around the travellers, all staring at them intently. They ranged from Sableye, to Dreepies, Phantumps, Mimikyus, Litwicks, Drifloons, Yamasks and a dozen others.</p><p>A rogue Sableye flung itself at the boys. Jack and Mylo prepared as fast as they could to fight them off, but it landed right in front of them, threw its hands in the air, smiled extra wide. Turned to the other ghosts, beginning to dance up and down. "We got visitors!"</p><p>Mylo was taken aback from the unexpected behaviour of the hauntingly terrifying Pokemon. The chorus of ghosts suddenly surged forward at them, each shaking their hands and trying to tell them something along the lines of welcome every time another introduced themselves. It was as though it was their first time seeing other Pokemon besides ghost types. The Shinx felt absolutely baffled by the strange Pokemon, he didn't know how to react.</p><p>Out of nowhere the villagers fell quiet, moving out of the way for one particular figure that seemed to have an authority over them.</p><p>A collection of what seemed to be numerous souls compressed into a cloud of an entity emerged from the darkness of the town, it hovered over towards the travellers. It was a Spiritomb. As excited as the ghost Pokemon were, they had to make sure to keep reasonable distance for the Spiritomb to introduce itself.</p><p>“Welcome travellers, this is The Hollows. We haven't seen any non-ghost type Pokemon here in ages. What brings you here?” The spirit Pokemon's voice sounded distorted, as more than a thousand souls were speaking at once, but it was understandable.</p><p>"We want to sleep and eat. Maybe make cool new pals?" The Noibat replied lightheartedly with a tinge of fear.</p><p>“Ah, that is great to hear. Oh, I see you have a hurt friend over there? You know we have good healers in this town, we can fix her up for you if you would like,” The Spiritomb kept up a welcoming attitude, despite appearing quite intimidating. “Unless you would prefer to sacrifice her soul to me?” Their tone suddenly dropped in pitch, a lot more intimidating than before.</p><p>"Naw, I think we're good," Jack seemed jumpy and as uncomfortable as you could in this situation.</p><p>“Ah, I kid of course. I have quite enough souls for now. But I'm always open for a new one if you wish,” Spiritomb returned back to normal, the menacing Pokemon appreciated the visitor's calm attitude.</p><p>The Noibat grimaced at the spirit Pokemon, and looked back to Mylo to see how he was holding up, which was honestly not looking too good. His face was shaded in fear and anxiety, he definitely was not able to pull it together as well as Jack in this situation.</p><p>The bat leaned down to him, "Remember my promise? Just don't be intimidated when they play with you like that and you'll be ok."</p><p>Mylo nodded quickly, his eyes still wide.</p><p>A slender, snow white ghost revealed herself from the crowd, a Froslass. She faced the visitors with a welcoming stance. "I am the mage of this town. Follow me, I can help heal your friend."</p><p>Jack looked back to Mylo and gently tugged his front leg to follow her, to which he complied. As they made their way through the town they began to notice its now overwhelming and ironic bustling of life coming from these ghoulish Pokémon. Jack felt his heart pounding with excitement, he wanted to talk to every single one of them and ask them as many questions as possible about what it was like to be a ghost, or how long they'd been here for, and if they had any ancient archives he could read.</p><p>Mylo was only thinking of how off putting this all seemed to him. These Pokemon just appeared out of nowhere, literally. Only to make a "joking" threat at them to eat their souls, and Jack seemed completely fine about all this. He did his best to keep his inner monologue to himself though.</p><p>Soon enough, they arrived at a building that towered over all the others. It was large, long, and rectangular, decorated with hardly any saturation, but yellow light beamed from its windows and out onto the broken dirt road.</p><p>The Frosslass led them in, "We're here boys. Come on inside, make yourselves at home."</p><p>Mylo hesitated a little before entering, but Jack followed on command, so he quickly caught up to him, staying closely behind the Noibat.</p><p>The inside was cozy, filled with herbs, potions, books and cots. The mage hovered towards the Shinx with a welcoming expression. "May I take your friend?" She gestured towards the limp Eevee on Mylo's back. He nodded, and carefully helped Froslass take the wounded Pokemon.</p><p>"It's been so long since we have had visitors. I am glad to help." She gently carried the Eevee to a soft white cot with blankets and placed her down. "By the way, my name is Lucille. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier," The feminine ghost turned back at Mylo and Jack with a soft smile.</p><p>Jack struck a smug look with finger guns pointing back at Lucille. "I'm Jack, the badass Noibat, baby. Nice to make your acquaintance."</p><p>The Shinx rolled his eyes. "And I'm Mylo."</p><p>"Well, lovely to meet you too. I will help your friend now, so you can roam around the town and meet some of the ghosts here. They're all excited to meet you."</p><p>They did so accordingly, and left the cozy room. Mylo could feel the cold foggy air linger on his fur as he gazed at his surroundings, seeing all the ghosts harmoniously chattering and living their lives. However, many of them did have their attention on him and Jack as soon as they had left the building. Jack turned to his feline friend and cupped his hand so they could whisper, "Dude, I think they are digging our vibes, man."</p><p>A group of young ghosts came their way, they all seemed bubbly and excited. They consisted of a Gastly, Sableye, Duskull, Misdreavus, Mimikyu, Phantump and a Shuppet.</p><p>"There they are, guys! The outsider Pokemon!”</p><p>"Wow! You guys look so cool!" A Duskull hovered around Jack and Mylo in circles, examining them.</p><p>"So, what brings you travellers here?" A Misdreavus came along with the other ghosts as well, she spoke more confidently than the others.</p><p>"Well this one here I saved from a cave and we are adventuring to figure out what happened to his memories.” Jack responded with a relaxed tone.</p><p>"Yeah, and now we're on our way to Aldora Village," Mylo felt a little more adjusted to the ghosts' touchy nature.</p><p>"You lost your memories? Oh gosh that is so sad!" the Misdreavus responded dramatically.</p><p>"It's ok. We're going to go figure out what it's about." He tried to lighten the mood.</p><p>"Wait so.. If you lost your memories, why go to Aldora Village?" A more submissive Phantump questioned the two.</p><p>"Well uh, apparently there's a large library there and we need to know more about this… Legendary Pokemon, which might be linked to it." Mylo wasn't sure why he was saying this to these strangers, but at the same time they did seem desperate for some sort of interesting story.</p><p>Jack looked over at Mylo and gave him a look along the lines of ‘shut up, don't say too much’. "Yeah, but also you know, sometimes you just gotta do a bit of exploring to learn more about yourself," The Noibat flashed a smile that seemed genuine but the cat could tell it was fake.</p><p>"Hey! It's ok, we won't do anything. We literally just roam here all our lives, we’re not even allowed to leave until we’re old enough." The Misdreavus responded defensively.</p><p>"Say, you mentioned a legendary Pokemon? Do you know what Pokemon it is?" The Duskull asked curiously.</p><p>"Don't mind him. He's kinda obsessed over legends and mythology,” The Misdreavus gave her friend a strong nudge to shut up.</p><p>Mylo looked back at Jack, not knowing what to say. The bat looked at him again and gave the ok that he could tell which legendary.</p><p>"Well, it's Cresselia apparently," The Shinx said.</p><p>The ghosts gasped and started to whisper amongst one another.</p><p>"Do you guys know her or something?" Mylo wasn't sure if he had done the right thing.</p><p>"Well, we only know her based on mythology, but there is a Pokemon that roams these parts who has apparently met Cresselia. You should talk to him!" The Duskull responded with enthusiasm.</p><p>"Ugh, why do people genuinely believe that crap. It's just a rumor, besides he probably lied about it." The sassy Misdreavus seemed a little annoyed by Duskull's excitement.</p><p>"I don't know. He's not that friendly."</p><p>"Wait, someone met Cresselia? Who?" Mylo lit up at their back and forth conversation.</p><p>"He’s a Gengar. He isn't always around here though. Often he spends his time alone up there over the hill with the giant trees," The Duskull gestured at the direction in which he was talking about.</p><p>"However sometimes he passes by the market to get food or supplies, but besides that, not really present." The Shuppet added.</p><p>Mylo quickly turned to Jack, and gave him a look of desperation. "We have to talk to him."</p><p>Jack glanced back at him, gave him a smile as he nodded his head. "Roger that buddy, lets go."</p><p>"I wouldn't get your hopes up," The Misdreavus called out.</p><p>“We thank you young children for your help. Now go on, go! Run along! Be free kiddos!" Jack exclaimed, and the ghosts scattered, but giggled and shrilled in excitement.</p><p> </p><p>The two adventurers scurried their way out of town, towards the hill with the large peaking trees. Their pace was quick, with urgency behind it.</p><p>"So, a Gengar, huh? Hopefully he won't be trouble," The cat spoke his thoughts out to his companion. It was a very quiet night, and there was no wind in contrast to when they started their journey. The silence was actually almost eerie.</p><p>"Gengars are well known for their love of silliness and trickery, so I'm sure this is gonna be something we can handle. Wow, would you look at where we are right now? The sky is so clear, and the silence is so peaceful.” Jack peared over at him and gave him a gentle smile.</p><p>Mylo looked back at the Noibat, his eyes were gleaming gold in the dark, natural for Shinxes and its evolutions. He took a moment to appreciate their surroundings now that Jack had pointed it out. "Yeah you're right, it is quite nice."</p><p>As they crossed over the hill, the woods became more quiet, and a slight fog clouded the atmosphere. Mylo gazed around, scanning the area for any sign of life.</p><p>“Hello? Anyone there?” Mylo started off speaking softly, because he didn’t want to be too loud, but spoke up towards the end to make sure whoever it was they were looking for could hear him. There was no response. Just silence. He looked back at Jack and shrugged.</p><p>Within the quiet realm of the foggy woods, they heard a fabled sound. Mylo jumped at the sudden noise, his fur was bristled and his stance on edge, preparing himself for anything.</p><p>“What brings you here?” A faint voice echoed in the shadows.</p><p>Jack and Mylo spun around, but saw nothing at first, the fog was too thick and it felt like the voice could be coming from anywhere.</p><p>“We came here to speak with a Gengar. Would you be him perhaps?” The Shinx couldn’t control it but he felt a sort of fear, his heart was thumping aggressively in his chest.</p><p>“Get lost.”</p><p>Jack got all huffy. "Well man, there's no need to be a dick about it. We just came because my friend here and you have met the same Legendary Pokemon, and he has lost his memories. If you can help him then you should."</p><p>This silence dragged for even longer, “Are you fucking shitting me.”</p><p>"Come out here and fight me you big fat purple grape- I ain’t afraid of you!" Jack yelled with a puffed out chest.</p><p>Two large scarlet eyes appeared in front of Jack and Mylo.</p><p>"Oh fuck," The Noibat mumbled.</p><p>A force of shadows pushed Jack back into a large pine tree behind them. Mylo yelped and held his head on the ground, closing his eyes.</p><p>The Noibat felt himself hit the tree, he summoned his shadow hand and prepared himself to punch. However he realized he was just being pushed against the tree and not punched onto it, so he paused and waited to see who was before him.</p><p>The shadow in front of them became more clear as a Gengar arose from it. He looked very pissed off. “I swear to shit, I’m not in the mood to deal with a bunch of arrogant assholes right now.” The Gengar stared at Jack, something about this Noibat was strange to him. <em>‘Did this Pokemon just use Dark Magic?’ </em>he thought to himself.</p><p>Jack struggled, still against the tree, but gently urged his shadow hand towards the Gengar. "I'm not some ‘arrogant asshole’ and you're scaring my friend over there. So with all my heart, I plead to you to put me down, and let us ask just a few questions,” his eyes were still stern but now with a pleading look, “It’s for him over there, not me.”</p><p>“What do you two want from me?” The ghost’s tone still lingered with annoyance. His voice sounded unexpectedly youthful, which surprised Jack. This fully evolved Pokemon must've been around close to their age.</p><p>Jack fell as he was released from the hold, and he un-summoned his spell, standing up and dusting himself off. He put on his happy face, and flew over to Mylo who was still shaking and bowing a bit, and threw his arm around him. "Well, my buddy here seems to have suffered at the hands of a particular Pokemon that we heard you encountered as well. Does ‘Cresselia’ ring a bell?"</p><p>The Gengar flinched briefly, a hint of fear present behind his red glowing eyes, but resumed back to his grumpy body language, “Did the townsfolk tell you about me?”</p><p>Mylo nodded, the ghost didn’t look all too surprised.</p><p>“As I thought. What exactly did Cresselia do to you?” The Gengar asked, his tone wary.</p><p>“Well, I’m not entirely sure, because I don’t remember. I’ve been told that she might have laid a curse on me. I don’t know if this is useful to you,” Mylo’s voice was uncertain.</p><p>“A curse? Like what?” The ghost cocked a brow.</p><p>“Oh, well, I’m not very sure… But I had a strange hallucination, and I also have amnesia, which might be related to it,” The Shinx was a little disappointed already.</p><p>“Wait I’m sorry... Did you say amnesia?” The Gengar’s entire stoic body language had dissipated for a brief moment.</p><p>“Y-yes, what about it?” Mylo asked curiously.</p><p>The large ghost was frozen in silence, seemingly recollecting his thoughts as his stoic demeanor returned again. “Hm, strange.” He put up an indifferent tone, shielding his inner thoughts.</p><p>Jack saw Mylo’s expression, and began to get upset on his behalf. "Look dude, can you help us out with anything or not? We really can't waste time, and I don't want you to get my buddy’s hopes up for nothing. He's been through stuff already."</p><p>The ghost threw Jack an annoyed glare. “Ok I guess. Well, I may not know what she did to you, but I do know a couple things about her, which I could share. If that’s what you want.”</p><p>Jack’s ears perked up fully, and his eyes widened entirely, he looked to Mylo for his reaction.</p><p>"Yeah, I would like that." The feline lit up a little.</p><p>"Alright, well, I haven't seen her in years, and I don't know what the villagers told you but I didn't know her personally or anything. It was just an encounter, so I'm sorry if these idiots got your hopes up or anything." The Gengar explained.</p><p>"Well. I wasn't sure what to expect." Mylo whispered.</p><p>The Gengar looked down at the Shinx, he was relieved he didn't put up as much of a fight, but it also made him feel a little awkward.</p><p>"Is there anything useful you could tell us, or know where to find her?" Mylo raised his voice.</p><p>"Anything at all my dude? I’m not very patient,” the increasingly impatient bat chipped in.</p><p>The ghost frowned in response to the Noibat’s loud-mouthed attitude, "Calm your fucking tits, and yeah, there’s more. What I do know is that Cresselia is the Legendary Pokemon that brings dreams, and represents the crescent moon. But any book could tell you that. One strange thing I do know is that she was pretty obsessed about preventing bad things from happening." He narrowed his eyes at the end.</p><p>"Preventing bad things? Anything specifically?" The Shinx turned all his attention to the Gengar once again.</p><p>"No. She was quite secretive about it. But I have the feeling she's experienced catastrophes before, which is why she's so obsessed about making sure they don't happen again," his voice sounding vaguely resentful and pushed back.</p><p>Mylo tilted his head. "You know, we're heading to Aldora Village for the library to find some information, and we could use someone who actually knows something about her." He seemed a little more optimistic the more he spoke. The Gengar frowned, clearly unwanting the implication of the request.</p><p>Jack shot him another angry and surprised look, much like earlier today. He ushered Mylo aside, gritting his teeth and smiling. "Mylo, please don't tell me you're seriously gonna invite another dick alongside us? He literally just tried to fight me."</p><p>"He's our only chance at actually being able to know something more about this Cresselia, and what happened to me. I don't think we're gonna get better chances than this." He understood why Jack wouldn't be keen on the idea, but he was desperate.</p><p>The Noibat took his time to think through his response, but he genuinely didn't know how to say no to the argument. He sighed while shaking his head, "Only you can make me do something, in my eyes, so blatantly stupid."</p><p>The Shinx smirked assertively, “I’m glad.”</p><p>The Gengar glared at them impatiently. "Well for your information I ain't joining your crazy adventure crew for free. What's in it for me?"</p><p>Jack grunted and left it up to Mylo to decide since if this were in his hands he'd have said, <em>'You don’t get jack shit, now come with us or don't, dickhead.'</em></p><p>"There is literally no reason for me to join you guys," an apathetic glare directed at the two.</p><p>Mylo sighed in frustration, "Look, what are you interested in? Is there something in particular you want?"</p><p>"Dunno, money? Cool item?" The Gengar shrugged.</p><p>Jack smirked and suddenly grabbed his eyeball from his socket and tossed it at the Gengar. "How bout that, spooky boy?"</p><p>The ghost jumped back, screaming, "What the fuck? Put it back in you fucking moron!”</p><p>Jack cackled maniacally, bending over while laughing, inching his way over to it. Dusting it off and shoving it back in its right-full place.</p><p>Their third conversationalist frowned at the annoyance belligerently. He took a brief moment to think before carefully wording his next sentence, "Well, come to think of it. I do have an idea of something you could offer me."</p><p>"That being?"</p><p>"You see, there is this place called the Haduka Forest, an enchanted woodland mainly inhabited by Fairy Pokemon. It is rumored that in its depths lies a town with a lot of rare items. The one problem is that I can't travel there by myself because the forest is kinda tricky to get through, especially as someone who is completely inexperienced with traveling, so if I'm gonna help you guys I would want you to help escort me there as a fair exchange. How does that sound?" The ghost crossed his arms halfway through his explanation.</p><p>Mylo returned it with a half smile. "That sounds like a deal, but you will help us first." He was prepared to be compliant to their guide.</p><p>Jack was not happy, but he was very excited deep down to be travelling to some enchanted woods, he'd never seen a place like that before. He then looked at Mylo's and the ghost’s stare.</p><p>"Alright buddy, we'll take you there, but first, we gotta go back and pick up our damsel in distress this one added to the bunch."</p><p>“You have another team member? God what is this? A fellowship?” the ghost’s taunting tone ever present.</p><p>Jack decided to tease the Gengar for his own fun of continuing to make him uncomfortable, so he winked at him seductively. "We can be whatever you want us to be, sugar.”</p><p>The ghost cringed in disgust.</p><p>Mylo sighed deeply, trying to break the tension between the two. "Ok, let's just head back to the Hollows and see how the Eevee is doing, and then we can rest as we get ready to head to Aldora Village tomorrow."</p><p>The trio of misfits headed back towards the village together. Mylo and Jack side by side, and the Gengar a couple paces behind them, being sure as to keep his distance between them and glaring at the back of their heads the whole time.</p><p>As they arrived back at the haunted village, all of the eyes were on them. Their expressions looked a lot more hostile than before. Less excited, a lot more quiet as well, but certainly attentive. Mylo and Jack glanced at each other in slight confusion, the Gengar in the back avoided eye contact with all the villagers, keeping his gaze downcast.</p><p>Jack turned to Mylo and talked as softly as possible so as to not let the grape hear, “Oi, you think their reactions have something to do with our new accompanying partner?”</p><p>The Shinx moved his face slightly closer to Jack's ear. "I think it might," He whispered back. The Noibat nodded and looked back to see the purple ball of angst’s guise.</p><p>The group awkwardly made their way back to Lucille's cabin. Inside they found Lucille hovering right in front of the door, Mylo tried to peak behind her and saw that the Eevee was still sound asleep on the white sheets.</p><p>The Froslass’ attention was at their new ghostly counterpart. "What's he doing here?" She tried as politely as possible.</p><p>"These two want me to help them with something." He responded bluntly.</p><p>“He’s our newest edition to our band of misfits of course!” Jack replied, and then swung his wing around the Gengar’s huge shoulders and pulled a big comical smile.</p><p>The ghost Pokemon tried to push Jack away and growled exasperatedly, "Get off."</p><p>Mylo gave Lucille a strained smile, trying to ignore the bickering behind him. "Where should we stay?"</p><p>Lucille tried to ignore the commotion coming from Jack trying to climb on the Gengar and him trying to shake him off whilst acknowledging the near ready to snap expression on the Shinx’s face.</p><p>“Well the Eevee here won’t be conscious for about another day. So go rest at the end of the city road, they’ll welcome you with open arms. Well, you fellows at least, maybe not so much him.” She nodded her head towards the Gengar. He scoffed dramatically or sarcastically, it was hard to tell which one.</p><p>"Ok, we'll head over there. Thank you so much for helping us," Mylo bowed his head a little to express his gratitude.</p><p>Jack gave her some finger guns as they all headed out. “Smell ya later, spooky lady.”</p><p>Mylo turned away immediately to avoid feeling embarrassed by Jack's farewell to Lucille. Their new ghostly counterpart didn't bid farewell, and just tagged along with the rest as they made their way towards the Inn across the road.</p><p>“So, Mr. Gengar, we never quite got your name?”</p><p>The ghost hesitated before answering, “Nyx.”</p><p>“Nyx... Well, that's a dumb name. Anyways, my name is Jack, and this is my friend Mylo.” The Noibat gestured towards his feline friend. The Gengar showed only indifference and continued to stroll through the town.</p><p> </p><p>It must've been past dinner by now, maybe 10pm. The torches on the streets were alight with blue flames, which were probably ignited by Litwicks or its evolutions. The cobblestone paths were cracked and mossy, and cooled by the midnight climate. Curious eyes were still locked on the trio from every corner, whispers and chattering a little quieter now. The Inn had a large hanging sign of what seemed to look like an Aegislash.</p><p>As the trio entered a Drifblim at the counter greeted them for a stay. "Welcome to Hollows' Inn, may I register you a room?"</p><p>The Drifblim's welcoming tone soon faded once it recognized the Gengar behind the two. "Ah, and I see you have come for a visit too, eh?"</p><p>"Not a particularly willing one," Nyx responded in a disgruntled tone.</p><p>In an attempt to cut off his remark, Mylo loudly asked, "How much for three beds?"</p><p>Drifblim took a moment to respond as it's attention was still on Nyx. "Right, each bed costs 20 Poké for a stay."</p><p>Jack threw the money up on the counter and began to walk down the hallway with his arms behind his head. “Keep the tip, it’s for the trouble of <em>him</em> being here in your hotel.” Nyx overheard Jack's comment and puffed up in anger.</p><p>The Drifblim looked back at Mylo and handed him two keys. "One of the rooms has two single beds, and one room has one single bed. You and your friend can share one room, and he can have his own." The Drifblim subtly side-eyed the Gengar when explaining to Mylo the rooming situation.</p><p>"Oh, that's great. Thanks." The Shinx picked up the keys and quickly caught up with his friend. They made their way to the corridors of rooms. Mylo handed over one key to Jack, and the other to Nyx. The ghost hastily opened the door to his room and slammed it as soon he got through.</p><p>Mylo and Jack found themselves in a small, cold room with cobblestone walls, and musty wood floors. The place looked very old, and the furniture was made of old ebony. The Shinx could smell the dust.</p><p>“Well, isn’t this just luxurious,” Jack spoke sarcastically.</p><p>"Yeah..." Mylo’s response fell flat, he wasn't all that impressed with this room, especially in comparison to Tekani Village's much nicer conditions.</p><p>Jack sighed loudly, “You know, I’m kinda wishing we would have taken the camping under the stars on the dirt route right about now.”</p><p>"Not gonna lie, me too," the kitten sighed regretfully.</p><p>Jack flung himself on the bed, coming to find out just how uncomfortable it was. With a smirk he looked at Mylo and said, “Watch this, dude.” He proceeded to hang himself from the ceiling in a curled up burrito. “Tadah! Pretty cool right?”</p><p>Mylo chuckled, he found the Noibat’s flaunting strangely comical. "That is pretty cool."</p><p>Jack decided it was the perfect opportunity to ask him what had been on his mind since he met the guy. “What do you think is the deal with the guy we are taking with us? He seems really guarded ya know?”</p><p>Mylo climbed onto his bed, trying to resist his reaction at how uncomfortable it was. He curled himself into a ball semi-under the sheets to keep himself warm in the cold room. He lifted his head above the dusty sheets to talk to Jack. "Yeah I don't know, he's kinda strange."</p><p>“You don't think he’s gonna cause too much trouble, right? 'Cause I don’t know, we have a lot to do already and we really don’t need too many more peeps slowing us down from the goal here.” he glanced at the Shinx for reassurance.</p><p>Mylo took a moment to think of a response. "Well, I don't know but I think with time things will get better. Besides, he might help protect us from stronger foes along the way. He is a Gengar afterall, they’re supposed to be powerful."</p><p>Jack gasped and summoned his shadow and petted it with his hand. “It’s ok boy, he knows you could protect him from any dangerous Pokémon if it came down to it.”</p><p>The Shinx rolled his eyes and giggled back. "Yeah, yeah, of course. You're strong too."</p><p>The Noibat yawned and before he allowed himself to doze off, he was sure to say one last thing. “Well, I think it’s time we hit the sack, but remember, if you need anything at all during the night, just call for me. With my big ass ears, I’ll be more than likely to hear you.”</p><p>Mylo snuggled deeper into his sheets. "Yup, will do."</p><p>“Goodnight Mylo, rest easy.”</p><p>"G'night," The cat yawned loudly before closing his eyes and falling into a slumber. He was very tired after their long walk, he could feel the blood rushing to his limbs.</p><p>Jack felt as though he were in a natural deep sleep trance due to sleeping in his natural positioning, it felt good to be suspended and weightless. Before they even knew it, both had already fallen deep asleep.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Nyx:<br/></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Shut Up and Listen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They’re all dickheads. Except Mylo, he’s the only nice one, our angel</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Two sleeping figures shot awake at the sound of loud knocking at their door. The Shinx murmured something intelligible as his fur bristled and his eyes crusted with sleep.</p>
<p>Jack instead fell from the ceiling and straight onto his head. “Son of a bitch, who the fuck could it be at this hour? Oh wait it’s morning-”</p>
<p>"Wake the fuck up it’s nearly 10 AM!" They recognized the voice as Nyx.</p>
<p>Jack marched to the door and opened it with force, staring up at the Gengar. “Some of us need our beauty sleep, unlike you I see. I prefer to look as beautiful as a Milotic. Go wait in the lobby for breakfast, you overgrown grape!” slamming the door in his face.</p>
<p>"What a cunt," Nyx mumbled behind the door, and was ready to leave as he headed downstairs.</p>
<p>Mylo groaned, he still felt half asleep. The tired feline stretched his forepaws across his bed to try and wake himself. He then wrapped his scarf around his neck, preparing himself to leave the room. The Shinx looked back at Jack waiting for him to get ready. "He could've been more quiet about it." His voice was still cloaked with sleepiness.</p>
<p>“I’ll say, for a Gengar, he sure isn’t that funny, kinda more on the ‘I’ll slit your throat’ side.”</p>
<p>“That’s true. They are supposed to have a good sense of humor.” He sheepishly grinned at Jack’s remark, and opened the door.</p>
<p>The Noibat flew out the door. "Who knows, maybe once we get to know him, he'll be Mr Comedian. Although I highly doubt it."</p>
<p>"We'll find out."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He followed Jack downstairs where the breakfast hall was. Several ghost pokemon were hanging around the place. Jack and Mylo immediately caught their attention again. Further down their Gengar acquaintance was seated at a small table, there were several ghost Pokemon around him, and he seemed quite uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Jack plopped down with his mountain of sugar cakes and fruit ready to devour, just about to fork some into his mouth, when Lucille busted in through the doors of the inn, looking quite frazzled.</p>
<p>The Froslass was gasping for air as she tried to get out her words quickly, "Sh-she’s, she’s awake! And she’s aggressive!"</p>
<p>The three were caught completely off guard by Lucille's dramatic entrance. The small flying type Pokemon sighed, threw his fork across the room, and held his head in his claws. "Of course she's awake now, why wouldn't she be."</p>
<p>Lucille urged them to follow her to where the Eevee was being kept overnight. The three were forced to chomp down the last of their breakfast before being dragged towards the hut. On their way there, the mage looked nervous at having to enter back in the room. As they got to the door, she asked the trio to wait outside when she went back in to calm her patient down.</p>
<p>"It will only be a second. Hopefully." The Froslass was out of breath from anxiety.</p>
<p>As she entered and closed the door, a loud thud was heard followed by a shout, “Leave me alone, you white chocolate covered grape looking ass bitch!"</p>
<p>"Oh god-" Mylo’s eyes widened.</p>
<p>Nyx made sure to cautiously distance himself from them after hearing all the shouting.</p>
<p>"Oh god please calm down miss I’m only a healer," Lucille’s desperate voice could be heard amid the shouting.</p>
<p>"Hello! Eevee? Can you calm down for a sec we're only here to help you," Mylo shouted from outside the room, and tried to talk over her shouting without sounding commanding.</p>
<p>The shuffling and loud noises from inside stopped. It became silent way too quickly, hinting at the hopeful possibility of her having heard Mylo’s words. "Where the fuck am I? What the fuck is that? And who the fuck are you?”</p>
<p>Mylo and Jack entered the room carefully, Nyx deciding to stay outside because he did not want any part of this.</p>
<p>"Uh, hi. We're the guys you tried to steal from earlier, and sorry for knocking you out. That was an accident. Anyways, we decided to take you here to heal you because we didn't want to leave you alone and injured in the woods," Mylo tried to explain himself in a welcoming manner but wasn't really sure how it was actually coming across.</p>
<p>Jack stood silently. He clearly wasn't that pleased about this situation at all.</p>
<p>"Yes, you are in The Hollows. It's an old abandoned human town that has now been inhabited by us ghost pokemon," the Froslass tried to hide her distress by coating it with a forced smile.</p>
<p>The Eevee stood quietly in the farthest corner of the room, visibly tense. Her eyes darting backwards and forwards between Mylo and Lucille, briefly passing over Jack's and Nyx's figures.</p>
<p>After a very uncomfortable 30 seconds of silence. She finally, loudly questioned the Shinx in front of her, "What makes you think I needed healing, huh? I'm perfectly capable of managing on my own."</p>
<p>“Uh well, you had bruises and cuts all over your body, and you were also unconscious.” He responded nervously, not knowing whether his reasoning would be enough for her.</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes, and took a long look up and down at him. Assessing him. Next to the Shinx, the Noibat shifted on his feet, uncomfortable by her gaze and still quite mad about her actions beforehand. If anything, his anger and annoyance kept increasing the more she opened her mouth.</p>
<p>"What do you want then? A thank you note? My undying appreciation and devotion?" Her tone coming off as harsh and patronising. Sarcasm dripping from her tongue as she narrowed her eyes further, if that was even possible at this point.</p>
<p>Mylo tried to distract her from getting angry further. "Well, we could get you something to eat to strengthen you up. You look like you need it."</p>
<p>"Uh, yes, you definitely should eat something. You look famished!" Lucille cut in, still coated with her usual 'helpful' tone, it was still apparent that she was pretty nervous about this.</p>
<p>The thief's head snapped straight to Lucille, startling the Frosslas a bit. Now eyeing her up and down in the same manner as Mylo, sizing them up for whatever she thought could be useful to her.</p>
<p>"What's his deal?" She tilted her head in the direction of the Noibat, suspicious of his intentions as his eyes had not left her form since they walked in. Surveying her with disdain.</p>
<p>"You got a problem with me, huh, little boy?" She glared at the Noibat.</p>
<p>Jack growled in anger. Mylo quickly went over to his friend and tried to gently push him back.</p>
<p>"Oh? Does the baby need to be held back? Can't control himself can he? Mommy needs to hold him, I see," The patient's voice became increasingly mocking the more she spoke, shifting her body in the Pokemon's direction. Her ears pulled back, her lips curling upwards revealing her small fangs as she taunted the Noibat with her cruel words, the rest of her body in attack position.</p>
<p>Jack tried to hold back, acknowledging the fact that Mylo was trying to stop him, but he simply couldn’t control himself after the ‘mommy’ comment. Without flinching and with furrowed brows, he began to march towards the Eevee, summoning his shadow hand. With each step towards her, it got bigger and bigger, till soon enough he was directly in her face. His hand as large as the room would allow it to be, and in a fiat posterior ready to pummel her out of existence.</p>
<p>He spoke with a controlled edge to his tone, whispering directly in her ear, “If there’s one thing about me you should know, it’s that I ain’t no fucking mama or daddy’s boy. So you better watch your mouth before you get yourself hurt, little lady.” He backed away from her, and un-summoned his hand, walking back calmly to be beside Mylo, not caring to look or acknowledge the response he evoked from her, simply trying to hold himself together.</p>
<p>Mylo stared at him wide eyed, there was almost a feeling of fear that started festering inside him. He wanted to push it away. Jack was his friend, he knew that he wouldn't actually hurt her, right?</p>
<p>The Eevee face went through about five different emotions in the span of three seconds. Starting off with surprise, followed by fear, disgust, anger, before finally settling on excitement. As Jack walked away from her, her body started to buzz as though someone had force fed her a handful of sugar to wake her up. Had she just found the perfect person to rile up and entertain herself with? Not really caring whether or not he could injure her, and by his previous display of magic it was very likely that he could do so. She lowered herself a little to the ground, ready to pounce. It played in her favour that everyone's attention was now on Jack rather than her.</p>
<p>The Noibat was walking away still, but he could sense in his ears the Eevee had changed its position. He felt that something was coming, but with how she'd been acting, he welcomed the chance to put her in her place. He couldn't stand the arrogance and raw aggression she was radiating at all times. If he was going to squabble, he was going to crush her, the way he'd never been able to do before with all other bullies. He'd get them all. Every. Single. Bully he came across. He prepared his body for the impact that was coming.</p>
<p>The spoiled brat behind him started to shift from side to side the lower she got to the ground, waiting for the right moment. His body tensed in front of her the further he walked away, either from anger or the fact he knew what was coming. She didn't know which, and could care less. As soon as the bat in front of her was far enough for what she wanted to do next, she pushed herself forward with as much power as she could muster. She took a couple steps forward before diving on an area of the floor next to Jack's feet, between him and the Gengar, that was lightly coated with water from a hole in the ceiling. The feline's body slid across the floor a few feet until she slowed down and moved to scramble back into her paws and dash towards the open door of the building.</p>
<p>Jack’s attention flickered back at the young girl who booked it out of the room, and thought to himself, <em>'Oh ho ho, you’re not gonna get away with this shit that easily.'</em> He took off out the door as fast he possibly could as he watched her run down the hallway, he wanted to catch her. He wanted to punish her. He zoomed as fast as he could. Just when he thought he was gonna get to strike, Nyx soared past him with ease, catching up to her quickly. The flyer watched them disappear from his line of sight into the outside world, he cursed under his breath.</p>
<p>Her figure slid past the doorway and onto the solid ground of the outside. Continuing her dash away from the strangers who she attacked and for god knows what reason had helped her. However, before she could get far away from them, her side flashed with a piercing pain. Her head started to pound just as her vision spotted with black. An earthy smell overcame her senses. Just as she heard someone's footsteps behind her she realised the smell was coming from a patch of grass she'd fallen face first onto. Comforting her as she fell lax, again.</p>
<p>Nyx landed back on the ground, and made his way over to the anger machine’s small body as he watched her eyes flutter closed. The Gengar picked her up and strolled past Jack and Mylo who stood in the doorways of the care center, shocked at the ball of shadow he had just shot her down with. He clicked his tongue at them and walked past mumbling, "You fuckers are so annoying, running around and acting so dramatically. Gonna give me a fucking migraine."</p>
<p>The ghost carried the sleeping beauty back to the same room, and plopped her body onto the bed, letting her just fall out of his arms onto it without any hint of gentile-ness or care.</p>
<p>Lucille had a horrified expression on her face, but didn't have the words to express herself. "I-I'll just, check her out if you don't mind-"</p>
<p>Nyx walked away, and positioned himself at the back of the room. Mylo watched him the whole way, and didn't really know what to say either but he appreciated his help.</p>
<p>"What are you looking at?" He snapped at the Shinx as soon as he noticed the attention on him.</p>
<p>Mylo scoffed in frustration, and looked back at the Eevee. He noticed that the Eevee was actually still partially awake, unaware of anything going on around her.</p>
<p>Jack slumped onto the ground, putting his hands behind his head, and tilting his head up. Trying to act as though all the aggression in him before never happened. "Geez, what a handful huh?"</p>
<p>"Yeah. Maybe we should get her to eat something so she'll calm down?" His naive friend suggested.</p>
<p>Jack slapped his palm to his head. "Yea, a fruit snack. That's gonna fix her. Way to go with the thinking, Mylo."</p>
<p>"I can give her an Oran berry, perhaps it will help her." Lucille’s voice was slightly out of breath. The Froslass gently opened the other Pokemon’s jaw, put the Oran berry in, and moved her lower jaw up and down for her to chew it up, then used her fingers to make it slide down her throat. "She sure did wake up ready to fight, I must say. Quite impressive considering how she came to me just a day ago."</p>
<p>"Yeah she's known to do that." Mylo’s tone fell flat.</p>
<p>Jack stifled a sarcastic laugh and tried to disguise it as a cough instead when Mylo looked at him. The Eevee's ears began to twitch as she ate the Oran berry. The Shinx carefully took one step forward, hoping she would be more willing to cooperate.</p>
<p>Lucille’s gaze was fixed on the injured Eevee, she kept a calm expression to make sure to not startle her. "Is that better?"</p>
<p>The chestnut coloured pokemon slurred her words out, only Lucille was able to hear, her jaw almost unable to move without aid. Mylo only caught a brief part of it, it was along the lines of ‘I guess a little bit’.</p>
<p>The Froslass sighed in relief, and hovered back. "Well I am glad. Now just take it easy, and be nice to these people."</p>
<p>Slurring her words once more, a few heard it as being along the lines of, "Fuck that shit. I don't owe them anything.”</p>
<p>Jack got up and left the room, leaving everyone else in there, and going outside to the grass to sit and calm himself before he did anything stupid.</p>
<p>Mylo's gaze longed at Jack as he exited the room. He sighed deeply.</p>
<p>"When do I get to move my limbs again?" The Eevee questioned, purposefully ignoring the Noibat that stormed out of the room.</p>
<p>"Shouldn't be too long if you take it easy." The healer replied to her patient’s question quickly.</p>
<p>“What exactly is, by your definition, ‘easy’?” The chestnut colored Pokemon frowned.</p>
<p>Lucille seemed clearly uncomfortable with the interrogating nature of the Pokemon. "Well uh, not running around or fighting."</p>
<p>Bonnie averted her eyes from Lucille to turn to Mylo before answering. "We'll see."<br/>Mylo gulped nervously.</p>
<p>Nyx who stood outside of the room, noticed Jack leave and watched him sit down on the grass. The bat-like Pokemon was distressed. The Gengar couldn't help but dwell on the fact that the young Pokemon was a dark magic user, he could sense it since they met. He wasn't a fan of it, especially with someone as reckless as him.</p>
<p>Jack noticed the ghost out of the corner of his eye, and immediately felt his defense go up. He turned towards him slightly. "Come to gawk at the bastard bat boy huh? Or do you actually have something you wanted to say?"</p>
<p>Nyx didn't expect the Noibat to notice him so quickly. He strolled into Jack's direction with a casual gesture. "I dunno, you seemed like you were kinda losing your control back there, huh?" The tone of his voice made it seem more like a taunt rather than a caring gesture.</p>
<p>Jack didn't show his face, and his voice was filled with venom, "Don't know, you tell me, you're the one who sat back and watched the show. You and everyone else in there."</p>
<p>Nyx shrugged. "To be honest if we did anything it would have probably been worse."</p>
<p>Suddenly out of the silence the Noibat let out a strained giggle, "Who would've thought you'd be playing hero today? Swooping in there and carrying her like that. Here I was convinced you were a complete no good piece of shit. You were like her grape in shining armor."</p>
<p>The dark purple ghost had a puzzled expression, the sudden light heartedness coming from the bat caught him off guard. "Keh, it would've been more torturous watching you guys try to stop her and failing," He replied bluntly.</p>
<p>Jack looked at him intently for a second, getting up in his face rather close. "Eh? Was that a ‘keh’ I heard? From Nyx the Gengar? Impossible!"</p>
<p>Nyx frowned at him, "Shut it.”</p>
<p>The Noibat continued to chuckle lightheartedly and rolled onto his back. Once he was collected, he said with the utmost sincerity the next sentence, "Seriously though, if it weren't for you catching up with her first. Well, let's just say it's much better you did. Thank you man." he then gave him a joking bop on the shoulder as you would an awkward new friend.</p>
<p>The ghost narrowed his eyes, and didn't seem to know what to do in response. "Alright, whatever."</p>
<p>They sat there in the grass like this for a moment, just them two, Jack looking up at the clouds as he thought of his next inquiry. "Can't say I thought something as round as yourself could fly so fast, took me by surprise."</p>
<p>Nyx sighed in frustration as he narrowed his eyes, nearly closing them.</p>
<p>There was silence again, until the ghost broke it. "You know, most Pokemon say that those who use Dark Magic are kinda... How should I say this? Crazy? I mean I don't know your story but it's pretty obvious you're into Dark Magic." He tried to start this conversation as casually as possible, just because he didn't have the energy to go too deep.</p>
<p>Jack seized him up a bit as his comment, but tried to keep up the nonchalant act since this is the best conversation he'd had with the guy, "Yeah, well I mean... I taught it to myself over time starting from when I was very young, so it's kinda just been with me for a while. I just started doing it one day."</p>
<p>Nyx nodded as a gesture of some understanding, he decided to let the matter rest. "Anyways, we should go check out on that rabid Eevee, we would have to leave pretty soon if we wanna arrive at Aldora Village before dark."</p>
<p>Jack nodded in agreement, got up and stretched, and headed towards the entrance in. "Well, back into the fright zone we go."</p>
<p>The Gengar stood by the door as Jack entered, same as before. Mylo was seated next to Lucille, they seemed to have been in a conversation. The Eevee and the Shinx were holding small cups of a hot beverage, it looked to be tea.</p>
<p>Jack noticed there seemingly wasn't much conversation going down between anyone in the room, and yet, it didn't feel as awkward as it did stiff. He noticed the way the Eevee was gripping on to her cup in a very fancy yet hard manner, as though she were resisting the urge to run again. Mylo gently sipped his without a care in the world, blissfully ignorant as per usual. Lucille's hands were shaking still even though she was using the two to balance the small tea cup, so it must have been the fear of things going south again doing this to her nervous system.</p>
<p>“Feeling better?” Mylo’s gaze was directed at Jack, who just came back inside.</p>
<p>The bat spoke back also softly but teasingly breathed his words out to tickle the cat’s ear, “You bet, buddy.”</p>
<p>Mylo flinched, but started giggling afterwards. The Shinx playfully batted his paw into Jack’s face. The Noibat flicked his ears as his cheeks were hot to but giggled and stuck his tongue out at him while winking. They stood there for a moment feeling like how they did before when it was just them two, but then realized the entire room was now dead quiet and looking at them in a curious manner, both boys straightened up and were blushing profusely from the attention.</p>
<p>Nyx broke the silence. “Um, alright to whatever the fuck that was. Moving on.”</p>
<p>Mylo and Jack sat down silently, awkwardness filled the atmosphere. The Gengar kept his eyes on them, squinting and grunting something unbearable under his breath, then also joining them sitting on the floor.</p>
<p>Jack decided to break the awkward silence of the room while also simultaneously trying to create some sort of good connection in this moment between him and the Eevee, so he put on his joker face.</p>
<p>"How's the sleeping escapee doing now? I see you’re awake and wide eyed with anger, but I've started to get used to that glare now a little."</p>
<p>Mylo looked over at Jack tensely, praying no new fight would start.</p>
<p>Bonnie snarled as she answered, "Good 'cause you're gonna be seeing it for a while"</p>
<p>Jack didn't respond aggressively, instead he just looked at her from afar and gave her a gentle smile, while inside of his head cussing her out. "Feisty one huh? I like that, we could use some stable aggression on this team for fights," He looked at Mylo, "God knows I can't count on him for that."</p>
<p>"He looks like the perfect poster child for a rich suburban family, not to mention he acts like one too," The Eevee chipped in. Jack stifled a large belly laugh as best as he could, finding her comment too accurate for its own good. The Shinx frowned, but didn't really say anything.</p>
<p>Bonnie leaned back onto the wall with her cup still in her paws, bringing it up to take a small sip. She looked over the rest of the members in the room, ignoring Mylo as she had already 'assessed' him earlier. Giving each and every one of them a harsh critical once over before opening her mouth to continue the tense and uncomfortable conversation. "So what do you want from me? Can't say I'm willing to do much considering you decided to help me and I didn't ask for that."</p>
<p>Jack and Mylo exchanged a look at each other, Nyx just let out a long annoyed sigh.</p>
<p>"You can sigh all you want, edgelord, but I do have a point." The fluffy Pokemon flashed her eyes at the ghost.</p>
<p>"I knocked you out once, I can do it again." He snapped back.</p>
<p>"Mhm yes please do, I like to feel something" The Eevee dramatically closed her eyes and lifted her chin to the ceiling.</p>
<p>"Wh- dude- No comment." A slightly concerned expression grew on the Gengar’s face. Bonnie only smiled back in an unsettling way, making it hard to distinguish what emotion was behind the smile. Nyx grew more uncomfortable.</p>
<p>Jack shuddered and whispered in Mylo’s ear, "Kinda a freak isn't she?"</p>
<p>"Yeah a little," he whispered back.</p>
<p>Mylo sighed in frustration and got up. "Look, we're heading to Aldora Village to meet with someone there that is apparently friends with the person who helped us, and then go to the library to do research on a Legendary Pokemon. We need to head there soon, and if you want to find a safe village to stay at I suggest you join us there." His expression was serious.</p>
<p>"I don't actually have a lot of choice do I?" The fluffy Pokemon raised a brow.</p>
<p>"I'm glad you agree." The Shinx responded nonchalantly.</p>
<p>Jack slung his wings around Nyx and Mylo, and gave her a fat grin. "If you haven't noticed, we're kind hard to shake off"</p>
<p>Nyx pushed himself away. "Fuck off."</p>
<p>Jack attached himself to the Gengar’s back, and held on. "Never! I’m a cowboy!"</p>
<p>Having already started to ignore what is going on around her, Bonnie slinked back down onto the cot and grabbed the discarded blanket she'd thrown away from her attempted escape. She pulled it over her body at the same time as she placed the tea cup down on the floor delicately. The girl looked pointedly at the two purple Pokemon before turning her face to the side and falling into a much needed sleep that didn't involve passing out or being knocked out. Sleep consumed her instantly.</p>
<p>Jack gasped. "Holy shit! The demon is sleeping? On its own accord? Incredible."</p>
<p>Lucille’s voice was a little calmer now than before. "I suggest you three go outside for a bit, just relax and prepare for your journey. I'll let you know when she wakes up."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The group did so accordingly, and stepped outside of the mage's quarters. The sun was higher now, suggesting it was probably midday. The ghosts in the town had mostly resumed back to their normal lives.</p>
<p>Jack turned back to the grape and the kitten with eagerness in his eyes. "So? What do you guys wanna do? We probably got some time before we're gonna take off, so how do you dudes wanna spend it?"</p>
<p>Nyx ignored his question. Mylo took a moment to think. "Well, we could just explore the village a little, before we leave." Their ghost counterpart didn't seem to like the idea but didn't say anything.</p>
<p>Jack gave a thumbs up and a big grin, "Sounds good to me"</p>
<p>The three strolled through the haunted town, the atmosphere seemed a lot less tense now since the ghosts had sort of gotten used to their presence, there was obviously still some attention on them, just more subtle now. The fog that cloaked the town nearly blocked out the sunlight because of how thick it was, but this seemed rather fitting for such a town.</p>
<p>Jack suddenly did a running jump onto Nyx’s back again. “If you can't show me a good time, I’ll just make some fun for myself. Now mush boy! Take us to where you eat!”</p>
<p>“I swear, I will Focus Blast you across this town if you don’t get off right now,” The Gengar threatened.</p>
<p>Jack fluttered off with ease, proving more so that what he was doing was purposeful and for his own fun.He then blushed as he looked at Mylo when he noticed the giggling coming from him, there's something about him when he giggled, he couldn’t put his finger on it.</p>
<p>Nyx noticed his response and just stared in confusion, thinking maybe the Noibat had brain damage that made him stare at people in such a way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The trio arrived in front of what seemed to be a bar of some kind. It's doors were wide open, and inside you could see several ghost pokemon chatting. The spirit was lively. Behind the bar you could see a stock of all sorts of foods and drinks, and the bartender appeared to be a large Trevenant.</p>
<p>Jack turned back to the other two boys behind him, noticing their hesitation, he put his hands on his hips and tapped his foot in not so much annoyance but impatience.</p>
<p>"Well, are we all just gonna stand around like a bunch of assholes or are we gonna head inside?"</p>
<p>"Uh, not sure if I wanna go in there. Too much socializing." The Gengar warranted. However Mylo already followed Noibat in.</p>
<p>Jack giggled and looked back to Nyx as they walked on ahead without him. "Oh come on Nyx, don't be such a debbie downer, dude. Try and enjoy yourself!"</p>
<p>The ghost narrowed his eyes in a frown, and scoffed. He carefully followed the rest into the bar.</p>
<p>As they entered inside everything stilled. It was almost as though everyone and everything including the air went stiff, they were all staring. Jack and Mylo soon caught on that from the nature of the stares intensity and aggression, that it wasn't aimed at them. They turned back to their towering frowning friend to see how he was reacting to their hostility. The Gengar seemed to have his usual stoic expression, but he clearly looked uncomfortable. He didn't say a word.</p>
<p>The Trevenant from behind the counter swung his arms over the bar, pulled himself over with one clean tug, and when he hit the ground. It shook the room with the force of his weight on the ground going full impact. He stomped over to Nyx and glared at him in the eyes the best he could, the Trevenant was very tall. The haunted tree Pokemon’s voice was deep and gravely. "Oh, well look who came down from the mountains to say hello! Everyone, everyone! It's the freak from the forest!”</p>
<p>He took a step towards Nyx again, getting more in his face. “Who would have thought for even just a moment you'd pause on bringing down evil upon this town in your involvement with corrupt Pokemon, to come get a fucking brew?”</p>
<p>He was now eye to eye with him, staring him down, no longer holding the mean joking manner in his face, dropping it instead to deadly seriousness. "I will say though, I thought everyone made it pretty clear, you’re not wanted, needed, or welcomed in this town. So why don't you just scram, you fucking freak." He took his enormous branch arm and sent it flying into Nyx's cheek in a punch that was so bad it was almost satisfying.</p>
<p>The Gengar was sent tumbling across the room. He grunted as he struggled back up, “Wow, no warning? Seriously? Why don’t you just leave me be for a couple of minutes, so these two can just get what they want and we’ll be out of here in no time.” His voice sounded cracked and held back.</p>
<p>The Trevenant strided over to him again and kicked him in the stomach this time, Nyx doubled over and made a grunting noise, then the tree bent down to his face and gave him a cruel smile.</p>
<p>"No, I think its pretty clear you and your buddies better get the fuck out of my bar."</p>
<p>Nyx felt physically unable to respond.</p>
<p>Mylo stared at the bully in fury, he could feel his muscles trembling with anger, he didn’t want to watch this.</p>
<p>Jack could feel something hot rise in his shoulders and in his face. It was rage at yet again watching someone be bullied and that person thinking they could get away with it. The pool of magic inside him began to overflow.</p>
<p>A slight sign of blood could be found trickling down Nyx's mouth, he coughed, and his red eyes were wide in shock. Mylo felt an irrepressible urge to leap at the Trevenant, his body crouched as his hind paws tensed in preparation of a charge.</p>
<p>Jack’s body fluffed all the way up, and his real eye’s pupil was dilated, his fang teeth bared, and the black shadowy mist of his magic began to float around him slightly.<br/>The ghosts starred in his direction in shock as they noticed the dark mist surrounding him. Hostility filled the air.</p>
<p>As the Trevenant noticed the mist, he smirked and laughed menacingly. "Huh, so I guess you haven't changed at all huh? Teamed up with another Pokemon corrupted by darkness?" He squeezed Nyx's arm, burrowing his branchlike claws into his flesh.</p>
<p>Jack and Mylo gave each other a look and nod of ‘let’s kick some ass’ and with that, the two launched themselves at the towering tree ready to fight for their newly met acquaintance.</p>
<p>Mylo climbed up onto the tree-like Pokemon's arm, digging his claws into the bark. His body was buzzing with light electricity, the Trevenant could feel the voltage but it didn't seem to bother him too much. The Shinx swiped his claws at the Trevenant's face, causing him to roar in anger, and throw the feline off him. Mylo rolled across the ground, grunting in pain, he scrambled his claws across the floor to try and get back up.</p>
<p>Jack watched as the Shinx was thrown across the floor and immediately set off. He drew from his well inside as much as possible, focused the best he could on summoning the strength, and soon enough, another enormous arm like the one before appeared in the room. He smirked before he sent the arm down upon him, the force of its fall so much it dispersed the air around it as it fell down upon the Trevenant.</p>
<p>The Trevenant 's upper body was sent slouched over after the impact of Jack's Dark Magic. He roared in fury and prepared himself for a proper fight with the Dark Magic user, he could sense the Noibat's hunger for a brawl.</p>
<p>The ghostly tree prepared his Shadow Punch, as his hand started to charge with darkness, his eye flared red.</p>
<p>"Take this, punk!" He flung his huge branch arm at the Noibat, there was no hesitation in his attack, unlike when he fought the Shinx.</p>
<p>Jack took the hit, it pushed him back in the air a bit, and knocked the wind out of him. Right now he felt like a fuse, as though there was so much energy inside him he was about to implode. He was able to take it and regain control almost immediately.</p>
<p>The Trevenant threw the Gengar aside, his focus was on Jack now. Pure hatred haunted the ghost tree's gaze.</p>
<p>"Corrupted minds like you should be exterminated from this world." He growled in anger, preparing to charge another attack.</p>
<p>Jack summoned another smaller hand, positioning them both on the sides of the Trevenants body, and going in to squeeze him whilst also holding him in place. "Mylo, get a hit on him while I have him still!" He called out.</p>
<p>The Trevenant exclaimed in surprise, he struggled within the hand, this gave Mylo enough time to get back up and leap at the tree once more. The blue feline yelled as he made impact with the tree, clinging his claws on to its body again, but more aggressively now.</p>
<p>The haunted tree recoiled physically at the impact, even though it was a simple attack it still hit him hard enough and was causing him pain. He thought to himself why was this poor Shinx defending these corrupted Pokemon? He pitied him as he broke free from Jack’s hands and landed a hard hitting Shadow Punch on the bat.</p>
<p>"Jack, look out!" Mylo cried out as the sudden intense attack came out of nowhere.</p>
<p>The Noibat dropped to the floor, he was unable to move now. The last two spells he just expelled left his body very weak. He felt terrible as he layed there hopelessly, he let himself down. He let Mylo down. If it weren't for his stupid want to have fun they never would have walked into this bar.</p>
<p>Mylo stared out in horror as the Trevenant slowly and terrifyingly made his way over to Jack. The feline could feel his heart racing, he didn't know what to do, but he had to save his friend. Out of instinct, his muscles tensed up even more now, but a lot more naturally and confidently. He could feel a sudden surge of energy surround his entire being, sparks of electricity flickered around him, his eyes gleamed. Mylo yowled as he raced towards the Trevenant, every stride in his leap grew stronger. He crashed himself into the Pokemon at high speed.</p>
<p>The Trevenant yelled out of pure astonishment of the Shinx's sudden attack, and was knocked out of his pursuit for the Noibat. Mylo stood in front of Jack protectively, he bared his fangs out ferociously, and his claws dug into the wooden floor beneath him, his body glowing brightly.</p>
<p>"Stay away from my friend!" The electric Pokemon’s voice was kept low, but threatening nonetheless.</p>
<p>There was a flash of light, Mylo could feel himself changing, his strength growing. His mane grew larger, his paws grew stronger and his legs longer. As the flash had surpassed, the Shinx had appeared to have evolved into a larger and powerful feline Pokemon. A Luxio.</p>
<p>Jack looked at the newly evolved Pokemon, and saw the leftovers of his body glowing. He looked different than before, he was bigger, and he seemed so much more powerful with his sparks and long legs. He was more regal and beautiful. Jack's eyes shut, and didn’t reopen in that moment, he thought about him until he went unconscious. Mylo evolved.</p>
<p>The Trevenant flinched in surprise at the sudden evolved Pokemon, the look of surprise soon faded into anger again. "If you don't get out of this bar right now, I won't refuse anything, punk," His voice was deeply threatening, Mylo felt that. He may have evolved now, but he still was no match for a fully evolved Trevenant, and a room of ghosts on his side.</p>
<p>"We will be on our way," The Luxio growled. His tense expression soon softened into worry as he ran over to his injured friend. "Jack, are you ok? Can you get up?" He placed his paw underneath the Noibat's head to lift it from the hard surface.</p>
<p>Jack didn’t respond, he was unconscious, and couldn’t move his body from exhaustion. Mylo’s eyes widened in worry, but was interrupted by someone’s touch on his shoulder and jumped. It was Nyx, who also seemed quite injured but he was ok enough to stand.</p>
<p>"Let's get out of here, carry him."</p>
<p>The feline nodded, and gently shoved Jack onto his back which was a lot larger now. It felt a little weird having gone through such a physical change. He tried to make sure Jack was well balanced before following the Gengar outside the bar.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nyx and Mylo headed towards Lucille's quarters. It was fairly quiet between them. Nyx's gaze looked troubled and deep in thought, Mylo figured to let him be for a bit as he was probably tired and hurt.</p>
<p>Lucille gasped in shock as she saw how beaten up they looked. "What happened?" She screamed.</p>
<p>"The guys at the bar didn't like us," Mylo tried to not go into too much detail.</p>
<p>Nyx sighed and rolled his eyes, “Bit of an understatement there.”</p>
<p>Lucille was mumbling in distress, something the others couldn't hear but it sounded like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack. "Ok uh, help me place Jack on this bed next to the Eevee." She quickly hovered over to Mylo and helped pick the Noibat up in her arms, as the Luxio leaned towards the bed.</p>
<p>The Froslass gently placed him on the soft bed, and covered him in snow white sheets. She grabbed some wet towels and bandages to tend to his wounds, an Oran berry placed beside his bed for when he would wake up.</p>
<p>Mylo watched over Jack with concern clouding his golden eyes. He knew he was strong, and would recover, but it pained him to see his friend in such a state.</p>
<p>"We should leave them to rest for now. Come with me, I'll see you two out for the night. I can assure you, once again, they'll be safe in my care," The Froslass gave them a very visible and exhausted smile. Lucille stopped in her tracks when she passed in front of Nyx, and noticed his wounds. "Hey, do you need some help with that? You look quite beaten up."</p>
<p>Nyx flinched at the request, not really knowing what to say, "Eh, I'll be fine."</p>
<p>Lucille frowned. "No, I think I'll have to at least clean up that arm wound. Do you want an Oran berry too?"</p>
<p>The Gengar continued to protest. "I'm pretty sure I said-"</p>
<p>Lucille cut him off, and dragged him in front of her kit. She grabbed a wet towel and cleaned up some of the blood on his arm and face, and wrapped his arm with a thin bandage. Afterwards she grabbed an Oran berry and offered it to him.</p>
<p>Before Nyx could deny the offer, she shushed him, and placed the berry in his clawed hands. She then hovered away to direct Mylo and Nyx to a place to sleep. The ghost felt very frustrated, it felt unnatural for someone like him to receive help without some sort of repayment. He didn’t feel he was meant to receive such a random act of kindness.</p>
<p>Lucille led them through the cobblestone hallways, small torches of the same blue flames that could be seen outside were hung against the cracked walls. She led them to a room with several bunk beds, it looked a little more comfortable than the Inn, but also a lot more deserted and unused.</p>
<p>"Sorry if this isn't anything fancy... But this is the only place I could think of." The Froslass spoke with a hesitant tone.</p>
<p>Nyx looked very distant in his thoughts, so Mylo figured to carry the conversation. "Oh, it's totally fine, we really appreciate you letting us stay here for free. We caused you so much trouble, we hope to repay you somehow."</p>
<p>"Oh don't worry, it's my job as a healer," She gave them a little head bow.</p>
<p>Mylo still couldn't help but feel bad, but he appreciated her kindness.</p>
<p>Lucille left the ghost and the feline in their quarters. Mylo brushed off some of the dust from his bed before entering. Nyx hovered over to his bed, and sat down. He was eerily silent.</p>
<p>The Luxio felt a little uncomfortable with the Gengar’s silence, he tried to start a mild conversation. "Hey, is your arm doing better?"</p>
<p>Nyx didn't look at him, he just stared at the wall aimlessly. "Sure, it feels fucking fantastic," The sarcasm was ever so clear.</p>
<p>Mylo sat down on his bed and looked over at him, who still seemed to be staring onward. "What was that back there? What do these villagers here have against you?"</p>
<p>The Gengar’s eyes narrowed in an angry frown. "Didn't you hear them? They seemed to have explained their reasoning pretty well." His tone was aggressive.</p>
<p>The feline still urged onward. "Yeah but... I don't understand. They said something about you having relations with a corrupted Pokemon, and they also called Jack corrupted. Was it just a Dark Magic user, because if it is that is kind of messed up to label someone corrupted just for their abilities."</p>
<p>"Is it though? Look, I don't think you know what Dark Magic can do. And no, this guy was not like Jack," The Gengar’s tone sounded resentful.</p>
<p>"Like what then?" Mylo kept asking.</p>
<p>Nyx growled at the feline Pokemon's interrogation. "It doesn't matter, just leave me be."</p>
<p>The Luxio sighed, and laid back down on his bed, staring at the ceiling. For some reason he couldn't feel tired. The light in the room was dark, not completely so, just enough to hint at the night approaching.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The exhausted Eevee lifted her head, feeling rested but still tense in her shoulders and a throbbing pain in her side. She slowly looked around the room, noticing small details she hadn't bothered to pick out before. The varying cracks in the walls, the moss overflowing from some of them, the way the broken chandelier reflected the last lights of the day. One of those dying rays of lights shone directly onto a figure a couple feet away from her lying in one of the many cots. His face was mostly relaxed with a twinge of pain visible from the furrow of his brows. It was the Noibat from earlier. That in itself was not surprising, he seemed like the most likely of the bunch to get hurt in a short span of time.</p>
<p>She pushed herself up into a sitting position, leaning against the wall behind her, observing the boy she remembered had been called Jack. Anticipating his wake.</p>
<p>Jack stirred in the wake of the twilight zone between the dream world and the real one. Soon enough he came to his senses, and opened his eyes to look at the ceiling of the room. There were vines hanging down from the ceiling that he stared at for a moment, looking at how big the leaves on some of them were, as well as the small fries sprouting out from the bottom. He then moved on to observe the way the broken glass reflected off of his glass eye and how he could see this reflection from his real one, this reminder of the fake and broken parts of him made him feel even worse.</p>
<p>He sat up and slumped over, barely being able to hold his head and ears up, and looked around till he noticed the Eevee giving him a once over glance. He didn't feel like fighting with her, so he just looked away and decided to not bother to try and speak. What was the point in it when it was her.</p>
<p>A long silence drew out before them, not uncomfortable but not calm either. Dancing a fine line of discomfort.</p>
<p>The Eevee kept her gaze directly in front of her, even as she uttered the first words of the night, "Safe to assume your outing didn't go as planned." It was more of a statement rather than anything else.</p>
<p>Jack just shrugged, staring in front of unblinkingly, as though a ghost from his past had come back to haunt him.</p>
<p>"Yeah, I feel ya," she knew he wasn't going to talk unless she coaxed him into it, that was no good. Entertainment was a very rare commodity these days.</p>
<p>The Noibat uttered something very soft, almost as though it were a whisper, like he only had so much voice before it would all disappear, "How are you feeling now?"</p>
<p>"As good as someone that's passed out twice and woken up to strangers touching her in a short space of time can feel," she answered back with signature sass from earlier weaved into her words.</p>
<p>"So what are you and lover-boy doing out in the middle of the woods by yourself? Not exactly safe out there," she asked when it was obvious the purple boy was going to keep on being silent, "I am the prime evidence on that one."</p>
<p>Jack just kept on staring blankly forward, not daring to utter the clash of horrible thoughts and guilt running through his mind.</p>
<p>Staring at him thoughtfully, the Eevee decided maybe a little bit of riling up was going to be needed to get him to say anything. "What? only gonna fake your happiness when the other boy is around?" letting out a shrill laugh before adding, "I'm only slightly offended."</p>
<p>Jack finally turned his head towards her, he moved slowly, and cocked his head. "What's that? Would you prefer me to be the real way instead? Instead of happy and go lucky, you want the weak, broken, and rage filled me? Sorry, can’t bring you such an order, that would mean the death of me and my relationships with people I love. Not that I ever really had relationships before to lose anyways." Jack turned back over, and looked down at his claws</p>
<p>He stared at them, they were small, and three pronged, and looked like they could be broken off easily. He thought about Mylo’s face as he passed out. He thought about the way anyone had ever looked at him when he used his Dark Magic. He thought of how much of a disappointment he was, and how even now, nothing had changed, he was no stronger, he just had a better mask now. He was pathetic. He began to notice drops of water slowly hitting his palms, and at first thought it was coming from the ceiling, but then realized it was coming from his eye.</p>
<p>"Fuck, they really were right. I really am just a murderer and a waste of space," he giggled more, "isn't that just hilarious?"</p>
<p><em>'When he does talk it's like a waterfall then, and he’s fucking nuts,'</em> She thought to herself. <em>'Dramatic too.'</em> Any emotion other than annoyance or anger she coaxed out of individuals didn’t particularly interest her. The thief decided it best to cut the conversation short and try another time to pester him.</p>
<p>"I'm not gonna pity you if that's what you want. I was able to crack your mask earlier. I don't think you were holding it on well in the first place," she shrugged.</p>
<p>The Noibat looked up at her, still having a stream of tears running down his face. He then began to hiccup, the sobs busting out from the damn of his heart. He held his head in his claws and tried to collect himself. He hated crying so much but she was right. He did have something eating away at his mask, and he needed to have the confidence there to ignore what others said, but no one in his life ever taught him that. They all chipped away at what little confidence he had in his real self since the beginning. He looked at her, still sobbing, "Thank you,” he sniffed, “Um, what's your name?"</p>
<p>The Eevee continued to look at him with a blank look on her face. Her expression soured just as soon as he asked her that question, turning away. Letting it hang in the air between them before she reluctantly answered back. It might be in her best interest to tell him a truth.</p>
<p>"It's Bonnie," she grimaced.</p>
<p>Jack wiped his eyes and gave her a weak soft smile and stuck out his wing. "Mine’s Jack, pleased to make your acquaintance miss Bonnie-bell,” he winked.</p>
<p>"I can't exactly twist myself right now," waving generally to her side, pointing out the injury from earlier.</p>
<p>The Noibat’s face went back to neutral. He didn't feel like after that he'd need to be over enthusiastic in-front of her, considering all the information she knew now, but he did show concern for her wounded side.</p>
<p>"That looked like it must’ve hurt, considering I watched Nyx charge up his big ass Shadow Ball. That is also what you get for running away."</p>
<p>"The Easter Egg just made it worse by slam dunking me," She responded. desperately wishing for him to shut up. Strange how she thought she’d be leading the conversation but ended up being the opposite.</p>
<p>Jack laughed genuinely for the first time in a while and then proceeded forward, wanting to know what happened before. He wanted to do so cautiously so as to not scare away their good moment they were having. "Wait, so what happened to you before that the raisin didn’t do?"</p>
<p>"Just tripped and fell against some rocks, nothing dramatic. The forest isn't forgiving."</p>
<p>"Well, you oughta be more careful from now on, especially on our journey tomorrow. We’ll be heading to Aldora so there's gonna be water on top of slippery rocks."</p>
<p>"Oh god I actually have to come with the rag tag group?" a loud groan filled the whole room at the Eevee’s obvious display of annoyance.</p>
<p>The bat just looked at her blankly, "In all honesty, I thought you were gonna be our new ‘edgier’ and ‘tough’ addition to our group of misfits.” He then stopped looking at her and went back to facing forward. “Plus, if you come with us, you get a cut of the treasure and money we find.”</p>
<p>The little thief snorted at his comment, "Sure, I'll be your edgy addition. Might as well diversify," her snark ever present, "I will leave when I want to."</p>
<p>"You can go whenever you please, that is if you can ever manage to escape our overgrown grumpy Ditto and looks-on-the-brightside kitty, or of course, you don't slip on a rock and kill yourself first."</p>
<p>Bonnie rolled her eyes, "I'm not stupid." She let herself slide down onto the full length of the cot, pulling the blanket over her.</p>
<p>The Noibat slinked down into his soft white cotton cocoon and gently said his next words whilst beginning to drift off, "Goodnight."</p>
<p>As time passed after the two had drifted off to sleep, the atmosphere in the room became lighter, as though the building itself let out a sigh. It traveled through the rest of the house, aiding its other residents in their sleep, the wind caressing their worries away.</p>
<p>The sun set on a long day, waiting to rise on the start of a journey that will encompass many years of healing, pain, most importantly forgiveness and joy.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>They do be kinda edgy tho</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Easy Target</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Adventure is picking up baby!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Bonnie was already awake by the time Jack had gotten out of bed, having already had a longer rest before falling back to sleep last night. Her bed was done up without a crease in sight as well as her fur dampened from a bath she'd taken mere minutes ago. The girl was still drying herself off when she noticed the Noibat stretch himself out.</p>
<p>His head turned quickly to the corridor where he heard footsteps approaching. The Shinx, now a Luxio, much to Bonnie's surprise and confusion, stopped and stood in the doorway. Followed by the grumpy Gengar, his face set in annoyance. He was not a morning person.</p>
<p>Mylo was very relieved to see Jack conscious again, he couldn't help but smile. The Eevee also seemed a lot more relaxed right now, it made him happy.</p>
<p>"Morning, guys." He greeted them softly.</p>
<p>Jack stared at the person before him blankly, he then looked the Luxio up and down, and in the most composed tone possible said to Bonnie; "Pardon me, but who the fuck is this?"</p>
<p>Bonnie also looked Mylo up and down, mimicking him and shrugged, "It looks to me like that baby blueberry from yesterday evolved." She looked away to finish drying herself off and grab a brush from the side table, left there by Lucille.</p>
<p>The cobalt feline smiled shyly, he could feel his cheeks get warm. "Well uh, yeah I changed a bit."</p>
<p>Jack whipped his head back around and immediately flew out of bed, pouncing on top of the Luxio, sitting on top of his chest. His eyes widened with excitement. “Mylo! You look incredible, dude! You evolved! You’re like a badass cat thing now!” he lifted one of Mylo's paws to measure his claws with them, enamored and bright eyed by how big they were.</p>
<p>Mylo now felt even more embarrassed, and didn't know how to react, "H-heh, thanks."</p>
<p>Bonnie gagged in the background at their display of affection.</p>
<p>Nyx just wanted to leave, "Ok, are we gonna head out finally?"</p>
<p>The Noibat got up off of the newly evolved Pokemon and flew around the room to test out his body for any other pains that he may not have noticed while he was passed out. He felt energized and ready to go as good as he could. "Yup, count me in!"</p>
<p>Mylo got back on his paws. "Yeah, I think we should get going."</p>
<p>Lucille hovered into the room with some goods. "I have brought some things that might be useful on your journey." She handed them some berries and orbs.</p>
<p>The Luxio was thankful yet again by Lucille's act of kindness, he felt a little flustered. "You know, you have been very helpful to us. Thank you, really."</p>
<p>The Froslass smiled brightly. "As I've said, it's my job to be helpful."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As Lucille and the other ghosts wished the group of misfits goodbye, they resumed their journey, this time with new members. The morning fog was still heavy, and plants were still dewed, the air felt humid, but fresh. The smell of pine and plant-life had returned, and felt like a kick of motivation and energy. The road was a lot flatter now compared to before as they had left most of the mountainous region behind them. The team moved forward through the towering trees of pine, the smell of their needles and cones filling one's nostrils which brought a refreshing sensation. The dirt beneath their feet trodden and soft, moss and small pebbles dashed across its surface, and the coos of the wind and wild Pokemon bustling deep within the wilderness's heart.</p>
<p>The fade from powerful pines and overbearing oaks to sprawling mandrakes and wallowing willows was that of a gradual one but soon enough the gang could no longer see any reminding details of the biome before. They belonged now solely to the slimy clutches of the swamp. Lily pads lined the shallow somber waters of which the team walked through, they were clear enough to see where one stepped, but nonetheless were painted a deep shade of green from the bustling microscopic organisms that made themselves home in there. The willows' long branches tickled the foreheads of the members as they walked under them, the sunlight dancing through the leaves, almost as if to say; <em>‘welcome travelers, come come, you'll be there soon enough, just wander a little farther’</em>. They pressed onward, deeper and deeper, how much longer until they would arrive to Aldora Village none really knew, as everything began to blend in more, this place was a water sodden labyrinth.</p>
<p>Mylo's fur felt sticky and wet, it made him feel uncomfortable, but it has been like this for a while, so he forced himself to grow somewhat used to it. The feline couldn't help but feel a strong anxiety towards water, he couldn't see the bottom and it made him scared. Water reminded him of a terrible accident he knew he had, but couldn't vividly remember. Forcing his paws through the thick waters was tiring, he could feel his muscles ache.</p>
<p>Jack flew overhead, he felt bad for the rest of his unfortunately four legged ground forbidden friends. Most especially Mylo, as he appeared quite exhausted and uncomfortable. Bonnie also appeared uncomfortable, but didn't look nearly as fazed as the him, in fact, if anything, she looked annoyed with the situation more so than defeated.</p>
<p>"How much further?" Nyx called out to Jack, who was hovering in the air alongside him.</p>
<p>"I don’t know, honestly. I haven't ever been there before, so I'm just trying my best to navigate through here with the directions I can remember."</p>
<p>As Mylo was listening to Jack’s response, he was caught off guard by his front paw getting trapped underneath a twig on the bottom of the swamp, and caused him to trip forward. He could feel his heart racing for a moment, it triggered a deep memory of falling through water, and shrieked in response.</p>
<p>Jack turned down and pulled Mylo’s head out of the swamp after he saw him freaking out and splashing everywhere. The Noibat watched him gasp for air now that he was free from the branch's grasp, he stood there wide-eyed as a doe. He placed his claw gently on Mylo’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“You ok?"</p>
<p>The Luxio gasped briefly and tried to catch his breath. He let his gaze sink to Jack's for reassurance. "That was weird. Sorry."</p>
<p>"Oh, no, no. Don't apologize for anything, man. I just was checking to make sure you're ok. Come on, let's keep going, we're gonna be close soon. I can feel it." With a smile, he patted him on the shoulder. Got up from the waters next to the young adult cat and resumed his flying at the front.</p>
<p>The electric Pokemon gave him a semi-smile in response. He truly appreciated Jack's caring attitude.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the team had continued their pace, the calm ambience was suddenly put to a halt when a loud crack echoed from the depths of the swamp. The insects stopped chirping, everything was deadly silent. The group of travellers all shared an alerted glare with one another.</p>
<p>"What the hell was that?" Mylo muttered softly, enough for the team members to hear.</p>
<p>Nyx didn't respond, but his stance seemed tense, and prepared for attack. His wide-shot eyes expressed a deep fear in them.</p>
<p>Jack stopped flying forward, his ears went mad in every direction trying to find the source of the crack. The bat's eyes dilated and a shadowy veil surrounding him as he flew in place.</p>
<p>Bonnie lowered her stance, preparing herself to book it if things got bad. She didn't owe these dickheads any inch of her lifespan if it tried to kill them, but if it were easy enough of a target, she'd stick around for the pure enjoyment of kicking the shit out of someone.</p>
<p>Suddenly, out of the water emerged a massive Feraligatr at the force of a bullet. Something about this Pokemon felt off, it's color was much more dim than the usual Feraligatr, and it's gaze seemed distant, as if it were soulless, and gave off a dark purple glow. The large crocodilian leapt it's way towards the travelers without giving them a chance of preparation.</p>
<p>Jack without thought sent out a shadowed fist directed at the Feraligatr's head, aiming to knock it out or stun it so the others could also overpower it. The Feraligatr got knocked over head first, splashing violently into the murky water.</p>
<p>"Fuck, A Shadow Pokemon!" Nyx cursed with a shake in his tone, this was exactly what he was hoping to avoid on this journey. He proceeded to charge his Shadow Ball, as little blue flames sparked from his body and eyes.</p>
<p>"A what?" Mylo glared at him in confusion, but he was still in shock from the surprise.</p>
<p>Bonnie scoffed. "Of course <em>'Sunshine'</em> over here hasn't ever fucking heard of them."</p>
<p>"Shadow Pokemon, you don't know- oh shit, of course. Ugh." The ghost felt stupid for forgetting about the amnesiac's situation. His Shadow Ball was fully charged, and as the Feraligatr struggled back on to it's feet he released it, hitting it right on the chest. The reptile roared in anguish, however, it's power seemed to grow more from pure fury and hatred, it's pupils becoming more constricted.</p>
<p>Mylo's body was dazzling with high voltage, he exclaimed as he released a large shock through the water, it seemed to be very effective against the Feraligatr as it screamed in pain. It's body hunched over in agony. The rest of the team members felt somewhat afflicted by the electricity in the water, their fur static all over.</p>
<p>Nyx tried to ignore the static electricity. "Come on, it’s down! Let’s get the hell out of here!” He exclaimed, ready to make a move through the swamp.</p>
<p>Mylo noticed Nyx, Bonnie and Jack flee from the site, and he paced himself quickly through the tall water.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When they all finally were far ahead enough to where they believed themselves to be safe, they collectively let out one big group sigh, collapsing down together to collect themselves.</p>
<p>Jack was trying to hold in a giggle of excited nervousness as he spoke, "N-nice do you got there, grape. You too, shitty fluff ball"</p>
<p>Nyx growled at the Noibat irritatedly, "Shut the fuck up." He kept trying to flatten his tufts with his claws, but every time he tried they would just stick up again. After every failed attempt he would groan in frustration.</p>
<p>Jack doubled over laughing, kicking his legs and rolling around in hysteria.</p>
<p>"Stop, you ass," The ghost snapped at Jack exasperatedly. Mylo couldn't contain himself either letting out a snicker. He held his paw over his mouth, before soon giving in to the laughter.</p>
<p>"What the fuck are you dumbasses making so much noise for?" The boys all turned slowly to look down at the small Eevee, her body was completely over taken with static and therefore made her a midget sized but enormous in width cotton ball. Not only that, her brows were furrowed, she was genuinely trying to intimidate them.</p>
<p>Bonnie cocked her head at them. “What the fuck are you all staring at me for like a bunch of brainless imps?”</p>
<p>Nyx used all his strength to suppress a grin at the hilarious sight of the cotton creature. "You probably got it worse than me.” Mylo and Jack burst out into an even louder and more hysterical laughter, so much that they had to gasp every time they could because they couldn't breathe.</p>
<p>Bonnie frowned even more than she already was, an impressive feet as she was already looking like she was about to murder 3 small villages. "I might look like this right now but you look like that the rest of your life. At least I'm salvageable," She barked out at Nyx and spat in the direction of the Luxio and Noibat, barely able to hear what she had said over their own laughter.</p>
<p>Jack in the midst of trying to collect himself wiped a tear from his eye and breathily spoke. "Lucky for me, men are a lot easier to please than you women. I'm fine being ugly so long as I can find a pretty man to satisfy my appetite."</p>
<p>Nyx glared at Jack daringly. "Ok, we get it."</p>
<p>Jack looked at Nyx, and then noticed everyone else staring at him as well, and he began to sweat and blush. "W-what? What did I say? I can't even remember now." He whistled and pretended to walk off.</p>
<p>"You kinda just said you were gay, dude." One of Bonnie’s long ears tipped to the side.</p>
<p>“La la la la. What, what’s that? I can’t hear you, I’m practicing my bravado!” The Noibat continued to scream and sing at top volume as he walked off.</p>
<p>Bonnie shook her head, "God, closeted gays are the worst."</p>
<p>Mylo seemed a little puzzled at the argument, he was quiet, but their reactions were pretty comical to him.</p>
<p>The Noibat was utterly bewildered and frozen, he was redder than an ass after a sunbathe, sweating like a whore in church, “Can we change the subject? Please?”</p>
<p>"Okay, let's continue to get this shit show on the road," the exasperated chestnut mammal sighed out, "I don't want to be attacked again."</p>
<p>She moved in the same direction they were previously, detouring slightly to make sure they wouldn't collide with the Shadow Pokemon this time. The Eevee stopped occasionally to wipe down her fur so that it wouldn’t fluff up anymore. The other travellers briefly exchange a look with one another, quickly getting back on their feet to catch up with Bonnie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The evening sun transformed the water of the marshlands into an amber-golden soup, almost making the swamps seem less uncomfortable, but rather more gorgeous. As the dusk crept closer, there was a distant glowing light source that caught the attention of the group.</p>
<p>The quartet trotted along at a brisker pace now, trying their best to get themselves to the source of light that hopefully was none other than Aldora Village. To their wishes they were correct. When they approached the opening front of the town, the mangroves of the swamp all around the area appeared to bend their roots in the direction of the glow, as if they were softly whispering. The lily pads led them out of the shallow waters and onto the soft dirt, which pushed back through their toes leaving them with a comforting sensation. They went forward and soon enough, they would arrive to their destination.</p>
<p>Aldora Village wasn’t like any of the other villages Jack or Mylo had been to before. It was overflowing with nature and life everywhere you looked. The houses were woven into the willows, and inside you could see bonfires and torchlights shining their warmth upon families of those young and gray. The history could be strongly felt of its ancient placement too, as the trees of this area towered over the normal swaps forestation and were even taller than the oaks and pines of before. A group of Froakies ran past them, playing a lighthearted game of tag. Across the way in a clearing that appeared to be a garden entrance, walked an elderly couple, a Gogoat and a Dubwool, nuzzling their horns against one another’s. The marketplace bustled with shopkeepers selling their goods and crowded with Pokemon of all types.</p>
<p>“We made it,” Jack murmured.</p>
<p>Mylo gazed in awe at his surroundings, he hadn't been in an atmosphere this full of life before. All the Pokemon looked happy, and as if they all shared connections with one another. He couldn't help but mumble, <em>'wow,'</em> underneath his breath.</p>
<p>Nyx felt a little uncomfortable and claustrophobic due to the cheery and lively crowds which he wasn’t so used to back in the Hollows, and Bonnie didn't seem all that impressed.</p>
<p>The air had a thick scent of grilled food and herbs, steam and light smoke cloaked the town. The place was almost entirely made up of wood, strong and thick pillars that dug deep into the murky water kept the town standing. The large platforms were constructed out of planks, and from the same material were bridges that connected it all. Most of the buildings consisted of cozy huts with open doors and windows. The town yet vast, was still very much in touch with the nature around it. Willows and vines hanging over the back streets between huts. At the centre of it was a very large building, it was a lot more sturdy than many of the other constructions in the town, many Pokemon seemed to be crowded in that area, the front of it was what seemed like a large collection of various markets.</p>
<p>"I could have never imagined Aldora Village to look like this.," Mylo spoke, his attention was still around him, glancing at every little thing that caught his eye or that looked particularly interesting to him. He looked back at Nyx who was behind him, "Have you been here before?"</p>
<p>Nyx let out a small sigh as he responded. "Haven’t really gone that far past the Hollows, to be completely honest."</p>
<p>Jack flew around them all, swooping high up into the air to look through the treetops, then coming back down and landing on his two feet whilst crossing his arms. "Damn, these trees must have been here since before the human wipeout, and in case you all forgot, that is a long ass fucking time."</p>
<p>"They do look huge, I could believe that," The Luxio’s gaze was up at the large towering mangrove trees, he felt like he had some sort of strange respect with this ancient plant life.</p>
<p>The Noibat flew behind the ghost and gently grappled onto his back like a baby koala bear, continuing through what he was previously saying, "How do you guys think they all got wiped out? I personally believe our Pokemon ancestors rose up against them and soon enough they were all pushed out of existence since we didn't need them to live."</p>
<p>Nyx glared tensely at Jack who was climbing his back, he aggressively shook the Noibat and shoved him away with his clawed hand.</p>
<p>"Get off!"</p>
<p>Jack fluttered away gently from him, not paying his aggression any mind, moving on to sit on top of Mylo’s large shoulders instead, "Some say Arceus wiped them all out himself, but I don't believe that as much, since he hardly ever intervenes in any affairs of ‘mortal beings’."</p>
<p>"I don't really know what happened to the humans and neither do I really care," The Gengar’s tone was indifferent.</p>
<p>The group found themselves in a more crowded spot of the village, they were surrounded by the markets and the large building in front of them. The environment was busy with trade, performances and chatter from all sorts of life.</p>
<p>Jack sat up on Mylo's back and positioned himself more like he was riding a horse, gently holding onto the fur around his head so he didn't fall off. "Damn, this place sure has got its shit together."</p>
<p>The Luxio felt a little ticklish by him grabbing his fur, he tried to shake off the sensation because he didn't want him to fall off.</p>
<p>The Noibat flopped forward sleepily, letting his wings hang over Mylo’s sides, his eyes heavy from the calm he was experiencing in this moment. "Oi, Mylo, did you ever think we'd actually make it here? 'Cause there were some points where I thought we wouldn't, to be honest. Especially with the aggressive grape and thieving fluff ball over there."</p>
<p>Mylo thought about what Jack said. He was right, there were many obstacles in their way to reach here, at some point he couldn't even imagine ever actually arriving at Aldora Village, yet here they were. So far everything was a combination of unexpected turns of events. "Yeah, it's pretty crazy we actually got here."</p>
<p>Jack patted his friend’s back gently. "Well lucky enough, we made it, and both of us are alive. Not to mention you fucking evolving which is like, the coolest thing ever!"</p>
<p>The cobalt mammal felt his cheeks feel warm, he pulled a subtle grin, "It is pretty cool."</p>
<p>The Noibat turned over on Mylo’s back, and looked up at the canopy's above them, and the blue sky full to the brim with clouds that called out his name with their breezes pushing them along, but he thought to himself, for once, he didn't desire to be up in the sky, he wanted to be right where he was.</p>
<p>Mylo didn't realize he was hungry until he saw the food market ahead from them, the various scents of freshly prepared food were certainly hard to miss. "Should we quickly grab something to eat before we look for the library?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Library of Half Truths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jack is a fucking ridiculous drama queen and we want to strangle him but at the same time give him a kiss on the forehead</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The group found a place to sit after grabbing some meals from a nearby store. It was a small table with little wooden seats, giving them a nice view over the swamp. They sat for a while there, talking with each other and joking occasionally, just resting for the first time that day.</p>
<p>Mylo felt really relieved with the opportunity to rest his paws, the journey here was the toughest so far, but definitely worth it. He thought to himself that the large building in front of them was probably the library since it looked very important. What Violet said about it definitely was not an understatement.</p>
<p>Jack caught the direction of his friend’s gaze. "Hey, you wanna go head out and find that library soon?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, I guess now is a good time."</p>
<p>Nyx pointed at the large building Mylo was previously staring at, "I'm pretty sure that's the library."</p>
<p>"It's huge," he responded.</p>
<p>"Well, they don’t call it the largest library in the region for nothing," The ghost responded bluntly.</p>
<p>Jack stared at it some more, his eyes widening more and more with excitement, "Just imagine all the information they will have on dark magic there. I’ll probably be able to learn some new stuff before we take off again!”</p>
<p>"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mylo got on his paws.</p>
<p>Nyx shrugged, not sharing the same excitement, but getting ready nonetheless.</p>
<p>Bonnie remained silent, it was difficult to read what she was thinking, her expressions were often a blank slate. Nonetheless, she trailed behind them.</p>
<p>The team made their way through the crowd, and reached the entrance of the large building. They all gazed upward at the sign that was displayed above them, <em>'The Aldorian Library'</em>.</p>
<p>Jack flew up to the sign and knocked on it, and turned back with wide eyes, "Guys! It’s made of rock! This is incredible!”</p>
<p>"Wow, incredible. Rock," Nyx’s reaction reeked with sarcasm.</p>
<p>The Noibat flew back down into his face still wide eyed and smiling, “Not just any rock, Nyx! It’s old rock!”</p>
<p>"Huh, I wonder what it's retirement plan is," The ghost continued.</p>
<p>Bonnie let out a known chuckle at Nyx’s stupid comment before Jack landed back down onto the ground, huffing his cheeks at the ghost and his eyebrows bent downward, "Don't be a dickhead."</p>
<p>“What the fuck-” He groaned in pain as the Noibat kicked his shin in, he was caught off guard by the sudden aggression from the lavender colored Pokemon.</p>
<p>Jack turned around and strolled away from the Gengar who was now hopping and gripping his leg, angrily yelling things at him that he wasn't paying attention to.</p>
<p>At the entrance was a Meowstic that welcomed the group to the library. The group entered accordingly, and they all viewed the board curiously.</p>
<p>Mylo skimmed through the contents, desperately trying to find anything related to Legendary Pokemon. His attention was then caught by a subsection dubbed; <em>‘Legends and Myths’</em>. He then knew that was the place to look.</p>
<p>"Ok guys, I'm gonna go look for the books on Legendaries. Nyx, could you come with me? Your encounter with Cresselia could help with understanding some of it."</p>
<p>"Well I guess that's why I'm here," The ghost’s voice didn't sound so determined, but it was compliant.</p>
<p>And so, the group scattered to go read up on anything within their interest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mylo quickly paced himself through the large corridor. He was overwhelmed and lost in this maze of bookshelves, the board may have been helpful, but in real time it was really hard to find his way around. After running back and forth multiple times, he finally could recognize the section he was looking for.</p>
<p>"I think this is it," The Luxio spoke to Nyx, but his eyes were directed towards the hundreds of books that were shelved before him, scanning each of their titles for words that seemed relevant to him. The Gengar helped with looking around, he picked up some books and flickered through them, and put them back if they weren't useful.</p>
<p>"There sure is a lot of stuff. Finding relevant information might take a while, but it is probably here somewhere."</p>
<p>There were so many titles, Mylo had no clue where to start, "Do you think these are organized in any particular order?"</p>
<p>"Keh, I'm not sure, but I kinda doubt it," Nyx responded.</p>
<p>"How about I start from the left side and you start on the right? Just so we can be more efficient," The Luxio suggested.</p>
<p>"Sounds like a plan," The ghost followed his instructions accordingly, making his way over to the far right side and looking through the books.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack was off in a separate direction from the others, he intentionally slipped away pretty quietly so that he could focus on finding interesting texts on Dark Magic without fearing the watching eyes of judgement from the others.</p>
<p>He fluttered through the bottom shelves, picking out a few small hand guides for basic spells. Soon enough the Noibat was at the farthest shelf back at the top, about done and ready to go find the others, when something caught his eye.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mylo found many books on Legends and Mythology, many interesting, but not necessarily relevant. One caught his attention in particular, it's title was ‘<em>The Creation of All’</em>. It had 4 figures engraved into it, they seemed godlike in a sense. As he flickered through it he knew it was irrelevant to what he was searching for, but incredibly interesting nonetheless. He got to read more about the god Pokemon Jack mentioned before, Arceus, the so called creator of the universe. What the Luxio didn't know is that it had help from two other individuals, Dialga and Palkia, who control time and space. As well as the forbidden offspring Giratina, the controller of antimatter. Mylo soon after this information disciplined himself to stop reading, as it was wasting the little time he had on his actual task. Nyx on the other hand did not waste his time reading through all these books, and mostly was able to stay on task.</p>
<p>After many other interesting reads, he then stumbled upon a book named <em>‘The Dreamscape’</em>. His curiosity peaked, could it be relevant to his situation? As he skimmed through, he noticed how it stated that when someone dreams, they enter a different dimension in space dubbed the <em>‘Dreamscape’</em>.</p>
<p>As he kept reading he found that there were certain Pokemon that are able to enter Dreamscapes. He went through the list of Pokemon it stated have these abilities, and noticed how Gengars were listed there. Mylo looked over at Nyx, who still seemed distracted, looking for the books. He didn't really know how to feel about it, so he kept reading down until a separate section appeared; <em>‘The Legendary Pokemon of Dreams and Nightmares’</em>. As he looked, he knew he wasn't mistaking when he could read out the name Cresselia. He gasped, relieved that he finally found something.</p>
<p>"Nyx! I think I found it!"</p>
<p>The Gengar flinched at Mylo's exclamation, and quickly hovered his way towards him as he peered over the book, "You sure? Also, don't be so loud, we're gonna get kicked out."</p>
<p>"Right, sorry. But look here! It's talking about Cresselia," Mylo pointed at the page with his paw.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack saw out of the corner of his eye a large dark-green spine of a book with artistic details resembling black thorn vines. The language on it was barely readable, as it’s characters looked very ancient. He approached it with curiosity but also great caution.</p>
<p>The curious bat finally managed to get a good look at it, it was covered completely in dust, clearly having been left up here stranded and untouched for years. As he gently dusted his wing over the writing, the book's words began to glow a deep green. Without warning, resizing itself to fit better in his hands. Jack gasped and almost dropped it. All the dust that had once been on it was shaken off from the process as well as the Noibat's mishandling of it, and now it clearly read; <em>‘First Shadowed Steps : High Dark Magic Of The Ages’</em>. Jack was fascinated immediately. This is exactly the kind of thing he was looking for since he first was able to feel his magic welling inside himself.</p>
<p>The petite Dragon type Pokemon flipped through the index and went down the line, there were so many pages in that part alone, and yet, it was so lightweight. As if each page turned refreshed to another one. He continued to flick through, reading and gaining knowledge on things no one ever spoke to him about, and that was until he saw exactly what he was looking for.</p>
<p><em>‘Necromancy, the journey of reprimanding and commanding the undead’</em>. Jack felt his head and heart pounding like a thousand gongs at once. His claws were trembling, from fear of the unknown. His mind was racing in a spiral, it was all coming back to him again, <em>“Why, Arceus? Why now do I have to remember that, I didn't mean it.”</em> No it was an accident he swore to himself he'd never make again. He stopped. He had to. He was losing control. He had to stop.</p>
<p>The Noibat looked at the book in his hands, and knew if he had any chance to redeem himself and undo the wrong he had done, that this was his sign and he needed to grab it. He quickly shoved the book into his bag, knowing this was going to be something he would need to take with him and practice for a long time. He scurried off to find the others, whilst also trying to collect his head and rebury the demons that had been dug up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Nyx and Mylo both read through the pages of their newfound book. It said that Cresselia was a Pokemon that travelled through the Dreamscape from Pokemon to Pokemon, granting them good dreams. She could only be encountered in the over-world under a crescent moon. As they continued on, it delved into how Dreams and Nightmares occur, stating that most Nightmares occur naturally, however there was a particular Pokemon that represented Nightmares named Darkrai. As they reached there, Nyx's gaze appeared frozen. Mylo noticed his reaction and looked at him with concern, but also confusion.</p>
<p>"Hey, is something wrong?"</p>
<p>The ghost was unresponsive for a brief moment. His mood had completely switched, he seemed very unhappy, "Wh-what?"</p>
<p>"You look like you just had a stroke, what happened?" The cobalt feline asked again.</p>
<p>Nyx hesitated, "It's nothing."</p>
<p>Mylo was unconvinced, and kept trying to get the ghost to talk, "Is it something about Darkrai? Do you think he could be a relevant issue for this Cresselia stuff?"</p>
<p>"No, Darkrai is not relevant, we should just ignore that and focus on Cresselia," Nyx’s tone became more stern.</p>
<p>The Luxio kept pushing, regardless of the Gengar’s attitude. "But it says Darkrai and Cresselia are very linked, and have had ages of conflict. That doesn't sound irrelevant to me," Mylo started to feel annoyed by Nyx's defensiveness.</p>
<p>"Just- fucking leave it, ok? We came for Cresselia, we have the information, let's not over-speculate and get sidetracked," the Gengar raised his voice, giving Mylo the hint to leave the subject be. The cat felt intimidated by him at that moment.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack flew over into the aisle where he spotted Mylo and Nyx standing silently, the tension more present than ever. He swooped in and decided to lighten the mood, also trying to hide the fact that he just stole what was probably an ancient and sacred Dark Magic book, "What-up douche canoes, did y'all find what you needed?"</p>
<p>Mylo felt surprised by Jack's sudden presence, especially as it was in the middle of a tense moment, "Oh, yeah I think we found something."</p>
<p>Jack bent down and landed on top of Nyx's back, again committing a baby koala move to him.</p>
<p>"Cool, tell me all about it."</p>
<p>Nyx sighed and seemed way too exhausted to even care at this point. He took off down the corridor, bringing Jack with him.</p>
<p>Mylo stood still for a moment, but then followed after Nyx quickly.</p>
<p>Jack whipped his head around to Mylo in shock with his eyebrow quirked, and then turned back to Nyx with concerned eyes, “Bro? Bro, are you good? What happened while I was gone, man?"</p>
<p>The ghost kept moving forward quietly. Jack dropped his head on top of his, trying to see if he could feel the bad juju radiating off his brain, "Nyx, darling, if you are having issues, you know your old papa Jack and Mylo are here to talk, right? Right?"</p>
<p>"Oh my god! I don't think I've met anyone more annoying than you. You even beat the stupid ghost children in The Hollows," The Gengar snapped.</p>
<p>The Noibat moved his head up and flicked his ears happily since the ghost finally broke the silence, "The name’s Jack! Being an annoyance comes with the package, free of charge!"</p>
<p>Nyx rolled his eyes, and let out an annoyed grunt. Jack looked at Mylo and pointed at the fact he was still riding on the beast, mouthing the best he could the words, ‘He has been tamed’.</p>
<p>The Luxio still felt uneasy about the previous argument, but he didn't want to bring it up anymore as he now knew with Nyx it would just make it worse.</p>
<p>"Is there anything else you guys wanna see before you go?" The Gengar’s voice still lingering with bottled frustration.</p>
<p>Jack tapped his finger to his chin, "I would care for the finest of sweets this town could muster in its markets, personally."</p>
<p>"I'm talking about the fucking library, you idiot," Nyx snarled.</p>
<p>The bat blinked his eyes a couple of times, "Nah, I'm good, my G."</p>
<p>"I think I'm fine," Mylo responded.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The three boys continued their way towards the exit of the giant building, not realizing just how much time had passed.</p>
<p>"Anyways, where is that rabid Eevee friend of yours?" Nyx asked the two clueless ones of the bunch. He hadn't seen Bonnie since they entered the library and wondered if she ran off and ditched them. It wouldn't surprise him. He'll probably end up doing the same eventually.</p>
<p>Just then, when the team realized they hadn't seen her in a bit, Bonnie appeared like a summoned demon, holding an array of items that she definitely didn't have before they entered the library.</p>
<p>"Sucked any dicks yet, dipshits?" Her tone was coated with sass.</p>
<p>Jack got flustered again, and proceeded to tuck himself behind the Gengar's head where you could only see his eyes, "Will she ever stop saying such outlandish and unfunny insulting jokes? Find out next time on this round of Family feud!"</p>
<p>"You know, you would be a lot more believable if you weren't so defensive about it," the Gengar remarked.</p>
<p>“Shut the fuck up, grape!” Jack exclaimed. Nyx rolled his eyes, and continued towards the exit.</p>
<p>Mylo noticed how it was definitely midnight outside, and remembered how Violet mentioned that she had a friend in Aldora Village that would welcome their stay.</p>
<p>"Hey Jack, remember how Violet mentioned that we could stay with that friend of hers? Do you know how we could find that person?"</p>
<p>Jack turned to Mylo whilst yawning and nuzzling himself into Nyx's spiky fur, nodding.</p>
<p>The ghost growled softly in response to the Noibat’s nuzzling, "You're on thin ice, fucker."</p>
<p>Jack laid there with a big smile, "You’re surprisingly fuzzy for something so aggressive and bitter inside."</p>
<p>"If I wasn't this tired, I would have smashed your head already."</p>
<p>"I like to live life in the danger zone."</p>
<p>"I want to say I'm concerned, but that would be too kind for an asshole like you," The ghost took it as an opportunity to throw yet another jab at the annoying bat.</p>
<p>Jack frowned in a sarcastic and joking manner, moving himself to lie in a fainting maiden, "Oh Nyx, come now, why must you shoot bullets through my bond with you? Just let it happen my dude. Or I'll do it by force."</p>
<p>Then the Gengar decided to not comment anymore.</p>
<p>"Yes, yes, very good. That's much more cooperative," A cheeky grin grew on the Noibat’s face.</p>
<p>Still getting used to being around others and their chatter after being alone for so long, Bonnie left her smartass comments to herself for a later date. She had time, she really wasn’t ready to leave after just regaining a semblance of companionship.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mylo’s priority was to find the Pokemon Violet spoke of. He assumed it could possibly be a Dark Magic user like herself, he wasn't entirely sure. How would they even begin to find them? All Violet said was that they would know them once they see them.</p>
<p>“Friend of Violet’s! Where are you?”</p>
<p>"Keep it down," Bonnie suggested.</p>
<p>Some strangers glared at Jack to which the Noibat glared back at them from the top of the Gengar’s head.</p>
<p>"Don't mind him, he's a little special," Nyx attempted to reassure the annoyed Pokemon, but mostly to make fun of Jack.</p>
<p>"Specially equipped to whoop your ass" The Noibat cut in.</p>
<p>The strangers only returned them with weirded out stares, and then continued on with their day.</p>
<p>They passed by multiple Pokemon, who seemed to be having a great time. There was live music playing, which could be heard throughout most of the village. Mylo felt intrigued. He kept looking around, searching for something that would remind him of his past, but to no avail.</p>
<p>Jack slumped down, ears fully downward and yawning. "Listen guys, I'm not feeling any Dark Magic energy here. Maybe we should just get a hotel or something."</p>
<p>"Let's just keep looking for a little bit," Mylo responded, who was still determined to find whoever Violet must've been referring to.</p>
<p>As they reached a further and less crowded area of the village, it was also a little darker and more quiet. Vines and trees encapsulated the area, making it a slight struggle to pass through. In the distance there was a bridge that led down to a strange looking hut over the water, light appeared from inside. The torches outside were alight with flames and decorated with skulls of Pokemon. It seemed quite desolate and lonely compared to the rest of Aldora Village.</p>
<p>Jack felt something trigger is magic senses, the presence of another. "Hold on. I'm feeling something, something near. We're close."</p>
<p>"Well, bat boy, let us know where to go," Nyx spoke impatiently.</p>
<p>“There! Over there! Over there! The hut!”</p>
<p>The rest of the group gazed at the structure with unease, they clearly did not feel too confident about approaching a strange, creepy, lonesome building. Jack however was the complete opposite. The Noibat finally unlatched himself from Nyx's back, and flew quickly. The Gengar felt released by Jack getting off his back at last.</p>
<p>"Ugh, finally," He mumbled.</p>
<p>Jack turned back and squinted his eyes, "This isn't over between us, you velvet booger. I will return to my rightful place soon enough."</p>
<p>"I really hate that guy."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They made their way down the wooden, slightly unstable bridge, and stood in front of the entrance of the shady structure.</p>
<p>Jack was already at the door and knocking repeatedly at the fastest pace he could go, “Hello? Any witches home?”</p>
<p>"Jack, you're gonna get us killed one of these days," Mylo sighed.</p>
<p>Loud rustling had started behind the door followed by an ‘Oh shit’. The door swung open and a towering Delphox had appeared before them.</p>
<p>Jack looked up at her from her toes to her head with his eyes wide and quickly uttered, “Tall milf...”</p>
<p>Nyx slapped Jack, but his eyes were still on the Delphox.</p>
<p>The large bipedal canine looked down in confusion at the small bat, “Visitors? What has it been, four, five years? Dear Arceus, come in! Come in!”</p>
<p>The Noibat scrambled in without hesitation, and sat himself down on the first chair he saw, swinging his feet back and forth with his wings behind his head.</p>
<p>"Nice cocoon you got here."</p>
<p>The others walked in a lot calmer. Mylo glanced around curiously at all the new things there were to see. The Delphox rushed in and picked up what seemed to be random viles and empty bottles scattered around on the floor.</p>
<p>"Terribly sorry for the mess, I haven't had visitors in years! Oh dear, I hope that isn't my experiment I spilled.”</p>
<p>"It's ok, don't worry about it. We slept in a ghost village so this is already an improvement," The Luxio responded politely. Nyx cocked a brow at Mylo's offensive comment.</p>
<p>The Delphi quickly threw everything she was carrying into the basement, shattering noises were soon heard after she had thrown all her bottles down the basement hatch.</p>
<p>Jack watched her chaotic tactics in admiration, "Awesome."</p>
<p>Mylo, Nyx and Bonnie cringed strongly in response to the chaotic noises behind the door.</p>
<p>The Delphox looked at Mylo in surprise, “Did you say ghost village? My dear that sounds like quite an adventure!” she said while awkwardly resting her hand on the wall, pretending they didn't hear the entire stock of bottles shattering.</p>
<p>"Yeah, very crazy," The enthusiasm in Mylo’s voice was clearly unauthentic, as he was too busy paying attention to the chaotic sounds of shattering glass.</p>
<p>The vulpine Pokemon quickly cleared her throat, "Oh good heavens, what kind of person am I? I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Haga, I am the Witch of Aldora village."</p>
<p>"Oh great, more magic," Nyx mumbled, the Gengar didn't seem too excited.</p>
<p>Jack flew into her face, and grabbed her with his hands whilst wearing a big smile and stars in his eyes, “Did you say you’re a witch?</p>
<p>A small shout was heard from the basement where Haga had thrown her stock of bottles, "Haga your experiments have shatt-”</p>
<p>“Shhh, we have visitors, Larry!” Haga interrupted, "I'm a specialist of the dark arts and brewing."</p>
<p>"Oh even better, Dark Magic. Again," Nyx’s tone was clearly sarcastic. Mylo desperately wanted the ghost to shut up for a moment to not ruin their introduction to Haga.</p>
<p>"I guess crazy people attract each other somehow." Bonnie spoke to Nyx as she gestured towards Jack and Haga.</p>
<p>The Delphox quickly gave the Gengar an awkward smile, “Yes I admit it isn't the purest form of studies I’m afraid," she laughed, "But I don't really practice it anymore,” She quickly added, “I agree it has grown suspicion and dread for those in the village, but who can blame them? I mean I would also be skeptical of someone who accidentally bottled a Mamoswine."</p>
<p>Mylo wasn't sure if he heard the last part correctly, his eyes widened in astonishment.</p>
<p>Haga had hastily combed her fur to make it decent to look at and quickly changed the subject, "Right, right, sorry we're getting off track. So, what brings you to my brewery?"</p>
<p>The Luxio proceeded to answer, "Well, we were actually sent by an apparent friend of yours. Do you recognise the name Violet? She told us that you would be welcome to us staying here for the night."</p>
<p>Haga flushed slightly at the familiar name’s mention, “Violet, my dear, of course of course,” she perked up happily and slightly embarrassed, "So Violet had brought you to me? how generous of her! Well of course you can stay here there are plenty of separate rooms upstairs, they should be more than enough for all of you to feel welcomed in."</p>
<p>Mylo smiled in a sense of gratitude, "Thank you so much."</p>
<p>“Am I the only one who doesn’t know who Violet is?” Bonnie questioned, finally speaking out from her silence.</p>
<p>“Neither do I.” Nyx joined in on the Eevee’s remark.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Haga had welcomed them all to the top floor, accepting any pesky luggage that the group had tired themselves with on their journey and had shown them to their rooms.</p>
<p>Jack before entering his room stared at the witch for a moment, "You are very kind for a Dark Magic user. I know most of us tend to be quite unsociable. So thank you for that." He stuck out his claws for her to shake, “I’m Jack by the way, and I am a current Dark Magic novice.”</p>
<p>Haga shook his hand gently, "You are too kind, sweetie. I know exactly what you mean, some of us can be quite unstable."</p>
<p>The Noibat chuckled nervously, “Heh, yeah… tell me about it.”</p>
<p>After their introduction, the Delphox signalled at the stairs to the rooms they were going to be sleeping in, "Please, by all means, the rooms are waiting for you. If there is any discomfort please feel free to summon me."</p>
<p>With those words, the Noibat sprinted forward, leaping to the ceiling to hand himself upside down.</p>
<p>“Mylo, this room is the best one we’ve had yet!”</p>
<p>The cobalt cat glanced around, it looked very comfortable, and the beds were much bigger than the ones they had slept in previously. There was also a little window that gave them a nice view on the marshlands, and the rest of Aldora Village. However, since it was dark now, it was hard to see.</p>
<p>"I think so too, this looks really comfy."</p>
<p>Bonnie looked up at the Gengar, and pointed at him with her ear, "So I'm gonna have to room with the edgelord?"</p>
<p>"Am I gonna have to share a room with Ms Barbie Doll?" He didn't even look back at her.</p>
<p>Jack and Mylo exchanged a look with each other, then both gave them on essentially saying, <em>‘Well obviously we room together, sorry dudes’.</em></p>
<p>"There's plenty of room for two people per room, but remember you can always tell me if there's any concern," Haga chipped in.</p>
<p>"Ugh fine, at least you're more quiet and sensible. Unlike the flappy faggot," Nyx spoke as he crossed his arms.</p>
<p>Jack walked over to the door, and very slowly shut it on them, "Have fun dicklips and sack of shit."</p>
<p>"Have fun fucking your boyfriend," Nyx spat.</p>
<p>Haga held back a small chuckle as she had left the group to sort themselves out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jack giggled nervously and sat down on the bed next to Mylo’s, "Don't pay that bastard any mind, he probably fills his ego through hatred of others and that's why he says such infuriating shit."</p>
<p>Mylo flopped on his bed, and turned over towards Jack, "Yeah probably, I feel like there's a lot about him he's hiding. I don't know."</p>
<p>“What do you mean?”</p>
<p>The Luxio proceeded to explain the event to him, which left Jack pondering over the Gengar and his reactions to the small things. He found it to be similar to how he would behave if someone ever found out his secret, so he said his next words carefully.</p>
<p>"Maybe the rumors about him in the village were true? That he was involved with some dark Pokemon, but not in the way they thought. Maybe he had something happen to him."</p>
<p>The feline fell quiet for a moment, deeply thinking about what Jack said, "It could be."</p>
<p>"Well, maybe in time he will reveal more to us, for now we should leave it be," The Noibat concluded.</p>
<p>Mylo rolled back to his side, facing Jack again.</p>
<p>Jack stared back. He didn't know what it was about him, but when he stared into those golden pools, something inside him was quieted, and he liked that feeling a lot.</p>
<p>Mylo broke the moment of silence, "I wonder what's next. Y'know, after Aldora Village."</p>
<p>The Noibat kept staring but he shrugged, "Not knowing is part of the fun isn't it?"</p>
<p>The Luxio chuckled in response, "Heh, yeah, that's true."</p>
<p>There was another moment of silence.</p>
<p>"You know, I'm really happy you helped me get here, I don't know how I could thank you," Mylo’s voice was very soft, but just loud enough for Jack to understand.</p>
<p>The Noibat paused for a moment, "Could you, maybe give me a good hug or something? Maybe, as like a bro thing.''</p>
<p>Mylo didn't expect the request, he felt a little confused, "Yeah, sure, why not."</p>
<p>Jack flew over gently to the bed and sat in front of him, scooting a little closer to his feline friend, and sticking out his arms. The Luxio held his paw over the smaller Pokemon’s back, and let his face sink over his feeble shoulder. The Noibat buried his face inside of the larger cat’s dark chest fur, it was very fluffy and warm, and made him feel comforted. Jack knew his thoughts weren't normal ones about his friend, but he didn't care, he felt safe here. Mylo didn't expect hugs to feel this nice, he felt safe, and not alone, the opposite of how he felt when he woke up in the ice cavern. Jack nuzzled more and more, and decided to shove Mylo down on the bed without any warning, giving him a devilish smile.</p>
<p>Mylo stared at him in astonishment and froze, having no idea what Jack was up to.</p>
<p>The Noibat then rose his arms in the air, smiling still, and brought them down upon Mylo’s now upturned tummy, “This is a tickle war! Get read to be tickled to death!”</p>
<p>The spooked feline clawed the sheets in fear, trying to scram away.</p>
<p>Jack swooped his arms down from every direction to tickle Mylo from every reachable angle. He was like a bomber plane, unstoppable and ridiculously fast.</p>
<p>“Take this, and that, and some of this. I’m unstoppable!”</p>
<p>Mylo scurried through the room, hiding underneath and climbing over furniture to escape the speedy Pokemon. He was so quick and agile it was nearly impossible, he screamed repeatedly.</p>
<p>The bat had to stop, he was laughing so hard he fell forward and was rolling around, gasping for air.</p>
<p>“A Luxio, screaming from being tickled by a Noibat. This is priceless!”</p>
<p>“I’m very ticklish ok, shut up!” the timid feline still hid underneath a wooden cupboard, crouched with his belly and paws on the ground, his eyes gleaming in the compact dark space.</p>
<p>Jack had to take a couple breaths before getting himself up, and speaking again. He could feel his eye-lids already starting to droop due to how sleepy he was, so he gave Mylo a little nudge on his fluffy forehead, and then flapped up towards the ceiling as he hung himself upside down, ready to drift off for the night. "Goodnight Mylo, dream well."</p>
<p>Mylo was also still catching his breath, but gave the Noibat a warm smile back as he jumped onto his bed. "Goodnight to you too."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Second Try</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>So much dialogue oh fuck drowning in dialogue helpehelpegelp</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Mylo felt a ray of warm sunlight touch his face as he slowly woke before something suddenly seemed to block it. He opened his eyes and found Jack staring straight at him. He screamed, throwing him off instinctively.</p>
<p>The Noibat landed perfectly balanced from the throw using his wings, dusting himself off, "Well good morning to you too!"</p>
<p>“Why were you staring like that?” The Luxio exclaimed.</p>
<p>Jack looked at him with big eyes, raising his voice, "Well, if you must know, it's because you were muttering things in your sleep and I wanted to hear you clearer."</p>
<p>"Wh- why?" The Luxio's mane was very messy, it's tufts stuck out weirdly. He tried to adjust it while yelling at the bat.</p>
<p>Jack put his hands on his hips and closed his eyes, "I'll only tell you if you stop yelling!"</p>
<p>Mylo sighed as he tried to calm himself, "Ok, fine."</p>
<p>"That's much more like it.”</p>
<p>“From the sounds of it, it seemed as though you were reliving an old conversation with someone. I couldn't tell who it was, but it seemed you two were enjoying a lighthearted discussion. You were smiling mid-sleep."</p>
<p>The black and blue colored feline was surprised by what he heard, his frown fading, and ears perked, "Oh, that's weird."</p>
<p>The Noibat flew over to him and gently put an arm around his friend, "One day you'll be able to know who that was again with ease, I'm sure of it. We just gotta get your memories back, dude."</p>
<p>Mylo felt a lot more unsure about getting his memories back in comparison to before. Worried what would happen if he was never able to retrieve them. How could he keep living without knowing anything about himself? As they got ready to leave the dorm, he tried to shake the thought. He worried that if he dwelled too hard on it, it would continue to consume him which really wasn’t necessary right now. They were in Aldora Village with Haga, surely she would have some idea where they could look next.</p>
<p>As Jack and Mylo exited their dorms, they noticed how Nyx and Bonnie had also awoken and were already on their way downstairs.</p>
<p>“Morning idiots,” The Eevee spoke without even making eye contact.</p>
<p>"Morning, fag" Nyx’s insult directed at the Noibat.</p>
<p>Jack gritted his teeth, “Oh boy how I missed you rays of sunshine while I slumbered.”</p>
<p>They followed them down and found themselves at a breakfast table covered in all sorts of delectable foods that Haga had prepared for them.</p>
<p>"I hope the first night wasn't too bad,'' Haga had seated herself at the head of the table.</p>
<p>"It was nice! Much better than any night I've had so far. That being three that I remember," Mylo’s voice trailed off.</p>
<p>Haga nodded with a smile at the feline as she started for the entrance out of the hut, "Well kids, I'm going to go shopping for some experim- I mean groceries. Please by all means make yourselves at home. Just avoid the basement that is all.”</p>
<p><em>"What basement?"</em> Mylo thought to himself, he couldn't help but feel a little curious as Haga left the hut in a slight hurry.</p>
<p>The Luxio moved closer to his friend to whisper something. "What do you think she's hiding there?"</p>
<p>“Don’t know, but I bet it’s awesome and unstable, which makes me wanna see it even more,” a smirk growing on the Noibat’s face.</p>
<p>"What are you two dipshits whispering about?" Nyx interrupted them.</p>
<p>Jack launched himself at the ghost, crawling behind him so he could cling to his back like the day before. He cupped his claws around his mouth into Nyx’s ear. “We wanna see the witch’s basement secrets.”</p>
<p>"Didn't she literally <em>just</em> say not to go there?" Nyx was disappointed, but definitely not surprised.</p>
<p>The Noibat hopped from his place on Nyx to now ride atop of Mylo’s back, “Yes, well, what’s the harm in a little rule breaking every now and again?”</p>
<p>"Well she did just let you stay for the night so you could show at least <em>some</em> decency, also she's a Dark Magic user so it's not the kind of person I want to get a bad side on," the ghost responded with clear annoyance.</p>
<p>"Since when do they listen to reason?" Bonnie sighed.</p>
<p>"You got a point.”</p>
<p>“Come on! You guys are like the king and queen of jackassery, are you not?” Jack argued.</p>
<p>Nyx narrowed his eyes at the Noibat, he did not really know what point he was trying to make.</p>
<p>“Loosen up, come down to the basement with us. Let’s all have a fun little get together. We’ll bond.”</p>
<p>"This is unnecessary and stupid," the Gengar crossed his arms.</p>
<p>"Ok well, we could just quickly check it out and then leave. We can make sure we don't touch anything," Mylo looked at Jack, hoping his words were getting across to him.</p>
<p>The Noibat narrowed his eyes. “Maybe touch one thing and then go?”</p>
<p>"Wh- we don't need to touch anything. We're not five." The Luxio frowned at his friend.</p>
<p>"Bold statement," Nyx muttered.</p>
<p>The Noibat narrowed his eyes at the Gengar, “Unlike your old fart self, I continue to have a sense of wonder.”</p>
<p>“Well, as far as the old saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. In this case, bat and cat.”</p>
<p>"We're not five but he is three." The Eevee’s ears dropped in a discouraged manner.</p>
<p>“Says you, you look like you just came out of the womb,” Jack sneered.</p>
<p>"Unfortunately idiocy will also kill the bat." Bonnie continued as her ears drooped even further.</p>
<p>“My head melon is perfectly fine and coherent, thank you very much.” He gestured his claws on his head with dramatic pride.</p>
<p>"You just called it your head melon," The chestnut furball commented, looking even less impressed, "Truly the words of one of the most brilliant minds of our generation."</p>
<p>“They will tell tales of me for years to come,” The Noibat held his chin high.</p>
<p>“The tales of ‘Here’s what you shouldn’t do with your life’. So all the future generations will learn from your mistakes,” The Gengar added.</p>
<p>“Ok, let’s just go carefully because we don’t know if it’s actually dangerous or not,” Mylo attempted to revert the conversation back to the basement.</p>
<p>Bonnie nudged Nyx's side, "You going down?"</p>
<p>“Are you?” The ghost hesitated.</p>
<p>"I will if you do. But I'm staying at the back. First to run out." The Eevee responded.</p>
<p>“Ok, deal. I’ll be second last.” Nyx added.</p>
<p>Nyx and Bonnie quickly caught up with Jack and Mylo, who stood in front of the door that supposedly led to the basement. The velvet bat looked at Mylo for a second, with a quick flash he kicked down onto the door full force but it only landed him back on the ground, with the door not being opened at all.</p>
<p>"I think there's a door handle," A look of concern was to be seen on the Luxio’s face.</p>
<p>"Right of course, yeah obviously I totally knew that guys. Ha ha."</p>
<p>Before anyone else tried for the door, small footsteps were heard from behind it, followed by, “Who’s there!?”</p>
<p>Jack screamed back full volume, “We’re burglars, and we’re here to burgle your goods!”</p>
<p>A voice coming from what seemed to be a small creature squeaked in fear, “Please! For the love of Arceus, there’s only harmful potions down here. You’ll kill us all!”</p>
<p>“Danger is my middle name, bucko. Now let us in!”</p>
<p>The voice shrieked, “Master Haga! Master Haga! Help me!”</p>
<p>Nyx narrowed his eyes, "Who the fuck are you?"</p>
<p>“I admit it, ok! I only took a small sip of the cool blue glowing potion Haga told me not to drink!” The strange voice was squeaky, and crackled.</p>
<p>"Why is everyone here so stupid? I wanna go back to my forest," The ghost muttered to himself.</p>
<p>Mylo opened the door using the door handle. The little creature from inside glared up at the towering Luxio.</p>
<p>"I'm gonna die,” It mumbled with a shaky voice. The Pokemon appeared to be a nimble Sableye.</p>
<p>The feline looked down at it curiously, "Uh, hello?"</p>
<p>“Not my vital organs, please! Ok, ok! I’ll give you one kidney, just not the spinal cord, please!”</p>
<p>"Dude calm down, and no I don’t want your organs. We just wanna go see what's inside," Mylo was taken aback by the rather strange Pokemon.</p>
<p>The Sableye stopped tensing as he looked at the Luxio again in confusion, "Y-you just wanna see down there?"</p>
<p>"Yeah."</p>
<p>The goblin looked at the larger feline, and then the rest of the group in even more confusion, "What kind of burglars are you guys?”</p>
<p>"We're not.. burglars," Mylo looked back at his friends before responding, particularly at Jack with a frown.</p>
<p>"I mean I'm not complaining, I'll take you down there, if that means you'll spare me," The Sableye fidgeted with his claws.</p>
<p>"That would be pretty neat," The Luxio let out a small smile.</p>
<p>“Alrighty, follow me!” The strange Pokemon said suddenly with a sigh of relief.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The skittish fellow had gladly led the whole group down the basement door, they had entered an incredibly large room, bigger than the entrance room which was already significantly spacious. All four walls of the rectangular basement were filled with potion racks, stacked top to bottom with an entire assortment of colors and shapes, from normal spherical bottles to strangely looped ones. Even a small bottle with what seemed to be a Mamoswine shrunk down to the size of a Dedenne.</p>
<p>On the farthest most side of the room was a small bookshelf with books and labels resembling ancient runes and strange dialects. The ceiling had a strange enchantment making it look like a deep dark blue with sprinkles of stars all over, moving slowly when observed closely. Finally at the right most side of the room stood a furnace with a giant cauldron hanging on top of it, bubbling a strange green brew. A table stood right next to the cauldron. There seemed to be ingredients already prepared on it, some strange green powder laying on a small petri dish, with a label saying, Experiment attempt 789.</p>
<p>Jack pointed to the green dust on the table, "Can I eat that?"</p>
<p>“What, that? No!” The Sableye squeaked. “That’s- It glows and from my experience it does more bad than good. Eat that and you’ll become as active as those cabbages growing outside the hut!”</p>
<p>Suddenly the attention of the Sableye was caught on the other side of the basement, towards a giant bubbling cauldron. “Ah, cauldron time!”</p>
<p>With that the goblin-like creature had scurried towards the table next to the cauldron, picked up the petri dish with the chemicals and poured it slowly whilst stirring the cauldron with a spoon too big for its own body. Mylo gazed at what the small Pokemon was doing with some curiosity, the process looked very complicated.</p>
<p>"Aight, are you guys satisfied now? Can we go back?" Nyx had about just enough of this little field trip already. Bonnie nodded in agreement.</p>
<p>The Sableye finally finished stirring the cauldron and returned back to them, "Anything else you want to see?"</p>
<p>"Yeah, no, I think we should go back before Jack dies of poisoning," The Gengar narrowed his eyes.</p>
<p>The gemstone Pokemon quickly nodded and led them back to the stairs to the living room, as they went up the stairs he let out a quiet, "Oh thank fuck."</p>
<p>As the Sableye led them upstairs, a large shadow had manifested at the entrance of the basement, waiting for them. As they came out they had locked eyes with Haga.</p>
<p>"Larry, I told you to not do one thing. What was that one thing?”</p>
<p>The Sableye looked in horror at the presence of the angry witch, "N-Not to let anyone into the basement."</p>
<p>"I'm not angry. Larry I told you this because I was playing with some dangerous chemicals,” The Delphox then chuckled as if it were a normal day incident.</p>
<p>"I'm going to lie down and rest a bit, spell brewing really takes the soul out of someone. Sometimes literally. But hey! I'll leave you at peace,” And with that Haga had walked past them into a room next to the living room.</p>
<p>Jack followed her in there, wanting to see what kind of secret spell stuff and ancient dark magic items she'd hidden in there. As the witch entered her room, followed by an inconspicuous Noibat, she placed her ingredients down on the corner of her bed and laid down.</p>
<p>Jack crawled very carefully onto the bed, paused then poked her foot, "Hey, whatcha doing?"</p>
<p>Haga yelped as she flung herself off, “Oh sweet mother of Arceus! You sure are one sneaky bat, I'll give you that kiddo," she gasped, "Well, welcome to my dormitory sweetie.”</p>
<p>The Noibat gazed at the room, and looked back at her, "These are some cozy digs you got here."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mylo moved to the area where they had dined for breakfast, followed by Nyx and Bonnie. They sat down on the chairs they were seated in previously. He looked around the room, there was so much to see, all sorts of books and ingredients stored in shelves that made the room almost feel claustrophobic, but it still felt comfortable.</p>
<p>“Why do you even stay with Jack? Isn’t he a pain in the ass to you?” Bonnie questioned, allowing herself to have a proper conversation rather than solely quips here and there.</p>
<p>Mylo turned towards the questioning Eevee, surprised by her question. He took a moment to think before responding, “Well… He saved my life, I was kinda in a ‘popsicle’ situation, long story. Thanks to him I’m not anymore. So I guess I kinda owe it to him, besides, he grows on you.”</p>
<p>“He saved you? How valiant of him. I’m sure he felt the same about me,” no smile was present as she pointed out his obvious displeasure of her.</p>
<p>The Luxio gritted his teeth at her very aware response. “Yeah uh… That might be a little more complicated.”</p>
<p>The Eevee scoffed. Not very impressed with his explanation. She didn’t expect Jack to like her; she just wanted to know why he was so unbearable and his weird behavior of self righteousness combined with being only morally correct when it best suited him.</p>
<p>“Just because he saved you doesn’t mean you gotta put up with his annoying attitude like that,” Nyx chipped in with narrowed eyes, standing behind the other two.</p>
<p>Mylo had a slightly defensive frown grow on his face. “Ok ok, he’s not that bad, guys. Trust me.”</p>
<p>“Why should I?” Bonnie really did want to. There was something about him that radiated honesty and loyalty but she held back. Nyx, she knew she’d never bond with him, he was too similar to her, however, she was somewhat grateful he wasn’t naive. The girl really needed to trust Mylo, for her own sake she needed someone she could cling onto with no questions asked. Mylo fit the bill.</p>
<p>The Luxio hesitated, not sure how to come back to her counter, “Well… You don’t have to, but I think we would all benefit from a bit of trust.”</p>
<p>None of them responded after that, it was all they needed to hear.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a bit, Haga and Jack reentered the room where the others were already seated. The Delphox sat next to the four younger Pokemon, passing them a tea cup each filled with warm water. Then sliding a box holding an assortment of tea flavours and sugar.</p>
<p>"So, you four. I was to ask you all a quick question if you don't mind,” she said, stirring a cube of sugar into her tea.</p>
<p>"Oh, sure. We don't mind," Mylo looked at the witch with uncertainty.</p>
<p>Haga smiled back at them, "Why Violet had sent you here."</p>
<p>"Oh, well, it's kind of a long story," The Luxio wasn't sure how he would explain it at first.</p>
<p>Jack pointed over to the Luxio and gave a half small smile filled with some empathetic tones, "My friend here kinda could use your expertise, knowledge and magic skills for his issue.”</p>
<p>"Yeah... I woke up in a cave without memory of anything besides my name. I’m also apparently cursed with something, according to Violet," Mylo tried to explain it as bluntly as possible.</p>
<p>“I see,” Haga managed to say, thinking twice whether she heard the feline properly.</p>
<p>"A curse and amnesia," she said to herself. “May I ask what kind of curse it is?”</p>
<p>“I’m not very sure… I only really experienced the effects of it once, which was a short hallucination.”</p>
<p>The Delphox hesitated. “... I'm afraid this might be out of my expertise, but I may have something that can help deal with the amnesia perhaps."</p>
<p>He perked up as he heard Haga's last suggestion, "Help it? Is that possible?”</p>
<p>“Yes sweetie. Now it may not work, but it's not something that will kill you if you try. I take it a ritual has already been performed on you to try to break this curse?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Mylo’s gaze was downcast, "It didn't work."</p>
<p>"Well, I'm sorry it failed to break the curse, sweetie. However, I do have one idea that Violet may not have tried yet that could work. It is quite a complicated one however, if you would like to try it I would be glad to help.”</p>
<p>"Yeah, I'll make sure to not get my hopes up this time. It is worth a try though," the Luxio nodded.</p>
<p>The Delphox tried to give Mylo a warm smile but her age and social interaction skills transformed it into an awkward grin that made it look like she was brushing her teeth, “I don’t think we will have enough time today to complete the ritual, but if you want to help me speed up the process, would you all be so kind as to help me find the proper ingredients at the market?” Haga suggested.</p>
<p>Nyx frowned. “Huh? What are we? Your new servants-“</p>
<p>Mylo pushed the ghost away, and cut in. “We’d gladly help!”</p>
<p>"If you feel tired and want to rest that is also fine." she smiled.</p>
<p>"No, I think it'll be good for us. Is there a particular list of things you need?" The Luxio’s large ears were perked with attention.</p>
<p>"There are just a few ingredients, mainly big roots, a pecha berry, a Cheri berry, and a Figy berry. I'll handle the rest" The witch listed off.</p>
<p>"Ok, that's fairly easy to remember. We can do that."</p>
<p>Mylo got up from his seat and looked at the others in hope's of their support. He waved the Delphox goodbye before getting ready to depart with the others as well, grabbing a leather bag and stood near the entrance with Jack. Nyx trailed behind them at his own pace with Bonnie not too far from him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Aldora Village looked very different in the morning, it felt almost more cozy, and warm, Everything was a lot clearer to see.</p>
<p>The market area was still as crowded as ever, but there was a different energy, many breakfast places and cafes were now open instead of the bars, and they didn't rely on torch light, as the natural morning sun did all the job.</p>
<p>After half an hour of shopping, the group of misfits made their way back to the witch’s hut.</p>
<p>Jack was clinging onto the Gengar, and decided to pipe up and open a discussion within the group about their new Delphox for an acquaintance, "So what’s your guys’ opinions on the newest witchy addition to our social circle?"</p>
<p>"I like her, she seems sweet," Mylo responded enthusiastically.</p>
<p>"We barely know this woman, how could you already have an opinion on her?" Nyx did so much less enthusiastically.</p>
<p>Bonnie didn’t even attempt to respond to the question as she didn’t feel that her opinion would be valid to the stubborn bat anyways.</p>
<p>Jack ignored Nyx's response, and continued onward with Mylo’s thought, "She really does seem sweet. She’s like this kickass little grandma living out in the woods doing magic ‘n stuff. Seems like the dream man."</p>
<p>“We’ve all got different dreams I guess,” the brown fluff ball chimed in.</p>
<p>"Yeah, and I'm glad that she's willing to be so helpful," The Luxio joined Jack in ignoring the ghost and his female counterpart.</p>
<p>They arrived at the bridge that led to Haga's hut and continued forward to the entrance. Familiar footsteps approached the door of the hut, the Delphox appeared from the other side.</p>
<p>"Wow, You sure are quick, I'll give you that,” she smiled, "Come, come. You all must be exhausted or maybe that's just me.” She grunted as she let everyone back into her hut.</p>
<p>The travellers entered the cottage, and gathered around the living room. Mylo handed over the groceries they had collected in a bag to Haga. Without a second passing, she accepted the ingredients, thanked the group and paced down stairs into the basement. A shout followed from her, “Larry! Light the cauldron and turn it up to eleven!”</p>
<p>As soon as the group turned the corner into the big basement brewery, a big fire ignited under the cauldron. Haga and Larry rushed around the room, the Sableye carrying boxes of empty bottles, powders and equipment towards the table the Delphox was working on. Larry did as he was told the whole way round, he pulled out a mortar and pestle, beginning to smash a berry into a paste. The Sableye then ran to a sink and began to fill a bucket with water, running backwards and forwards pouring the water into the cauldron.</p>
<p>"Alright good work. Now we need to be careful with this step. Larry go take a rest,” Haga smiled calmly at her assistant.</p>
<p>Larry frowned at the Delphox before asking, "B-but I'm not tired, I can help.”</p>
<p>Haga tilted her head, "Do you remember what happened last time when you dealt with something delicate?"</p>
<p>Larry nodded his head solemnly, and headed for his room next to the basement. Haga pulled out a wand she kept in her fur and whispered something into it before aiming it at the fire. Green sparks expelled from the wand and jumped into the fire, turning the fire a turquoise color.</p>
<p>With a sigh of relief, the Delphox put down the wand and poured the Cherri berry paste that Larry had prepared. Followed by the rest of the ingredients that the group had collected.</p>
<p>"Alright that should do it," she said, "Now we wait for a few hours and it should be ready by tomorrow morning."</p>
<p>Mylo watched with a sense of wonder, all of it was alien to him but the sparking colors were quite a sight. "Thank you Haga, really." He smiled in gratitude.</p>
<p>“It's my pleasure kiddo,” She smiled back.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Dreamscape</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Hopefully their personalities are being revealed more now to y’all (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dawn had only just begun, and Mylo felt himself wake nonetheless. He gazed outside the window of his room as the grey morning skies softly lit up the marshlands from the darkness. He felt a pit of anxiety, but also a sunken feeling of hopelessness as he remembered what was coming next, unsure whether this new ritual would even work.</p><p>As he twisted his body, he realized that Jack wasn't in the room with him. Normally the Noibat didn't leave without him. The feline jumped off the bed, and left as soon as he tied his signature scarf around his neck.</p><p>Mylo came down the stairs, his head was still foggy with sleep. He glanced around the living room, and the dining hall too, but there was no sign of anyone. The Luxio decided to check outside just in case. As he opened the front door, the fresh, humid air of the morning swamp already made him feel a lot better. The moment he stepped out, he was sure that he could see Jack floating in thin air without even flapping his wings.</p><p>The Luxio panicked, he must've still been half asleep. He rubbed his eyes with one of his large paws, and shook his dark mane. But there he was, still floating like the laws of gravity meant nothing to him.</p><p>"Jack?"</p><p>As soon as the bat recognized that pubescent voice, he opened his eyes. Dropping out of mid air and falling on the ground. Just laying there for a moment before letting out a deep sigh, “Morning, sunshine.”</p><p>"Oh- I'm sorry I didn't mean to disturb you like that I was just. Yeah. What are you doing here so early?" Mylo stuttered over his words.</p><p>Jack struggled back on his feet, and brushed off some of the dirt on his chest fluff, “I was practicing some magic things I learned from this book that I got at the library. And by the way, if you see me like that ever again, don’t run up and scream at me, ‘cause I could possibly,“ he stopped, “Hurt you.”</p><p>Mylo felt chills run down his spine, "Oh, yeah right. Sorry, I'll be more careful next time."</p><p>The Noibat walked over and grabbed the larger felline’s cheeks, squishing them together, “You look upset about something. Stressed. Tell me this instant.”</p><p>"Just about the whole ritual thing. It's fine,” The Luxio looked away as his friend held his cheek tufts.</p><p>Jack squished his face even more, “You’re lying. Out with it!”</p><p>Mylo tried to avoid eye contact. "I- I don't know, It's just weird. What if I never get my memories back?"</p><p>The bat stopped squishing his cheeks and let his wings drop. He pulled Mylo forward into his arms and held him there, petting the back of his head. The boy proceeded to speak calmly, “We will find a way. If we really can’t, then we’ll make a new life for you together. New memories. I’ll make it amazing for you, I promise.”</p><p>For some reason these words struck an emotion that the feline had subconsciously blocked. He felt his face swelling and wiped his paw over it in response. He felt warm and safe in this moment, letting out a soft purr, "Thanks Jack."</p><p>Jack held him there a little longer, feeling the cats purrs rolling through his body and tickling his skin. After a while they moved back from each other with a smile.</p><p>“Now, since we had our mushy gushy moment of the day. Let’s go find some morning grub, shall we?”</p><p> </p><p>The pair made their way back to Haga's hut and wandered around the dining hall searching for something to eat. Mylo opened a shelf that had a stash of some fresh looking pastries in a bag, which he then grabbed with his jaws, and placed it on the dining table alongside Jack.</p><p>The cat grabbed a pastry with powdered sugar, it was still warm. Haga must’ve brought them recently. Jack reached for some fruit and carried his book in his other hand, doing his best to balance out everything in his arms.</p><p>Mylo’s attention was on what the Noibat was holding, “Found anything interesting in that book?”</p><p>Jack looked down at the book in his hand and noticed how it seemed to physically draw him in. He snapped himself out of it and tried to respond casually, “Oh just you know, something to help me hone my skills more.”</p><p>The Luxio noticed how he seemed a little absent minded. However he tried to not dwell on it too much, it would most likely make things awkward, “Oh, that’s neat.” He forced a smile.</p><p>For the first time since they met, Jack could not think of anything to say to Mylo. He dragged his head to listen to the crickets outside, waiting for someone to come down the stairs and rescue them from the dreadful silence.</p><p>After the long excruciating moment, someone was heard coming down the stairs. Nyx entered the living room looking a little surprised that the two were awake before he was.</p><p>“Huh, that’s weird. Normally I’m the first one to wake. Did something happen?” Despite his question, his tone sounded unbothered.</p><p>Mylo’s gaze shot up to look at him, “Oh, no not really. Just woke up early today.”</p><p>Another second passed and the doors of the basement suddenly burst open, revealing a sleep deprived Haga holding a big potion of some sort.</p><p>"I-it’s complete", she managed to spit out, “It’s complete!”</p><p>The Delphox then exclaimed while shaking the bottle up and down like a warrior battle cry. The atmosphere of the room buzzed with anticipation, Mylo could feel excitement and anxiety grow inside him.</p><p>Haga smiled with relief and exhaustion, "I have everything ready for the ritual. You can choose to come now or even take it later. No pressure. Unless you wait for a week and the ingredients expire, but I doubt one would ever wait that long."</p><p>"No, no! I'm ready now," the Luxio quickly got off his seat.</p><p>“That's wonderful, kiddo!” The witch exclaimed whilst still catching her breath from speeding up the stairs, “Come, follow me downstairs. All of you can choose to come if you want. However, Nyx I would need your assistance for this ritual to work."</p><p>The ghost flinched. "Huh? Me?" He looked at Haga in bewilderment, he knew he wasn't ready for whatever this witch had in store for him.</p><p>“Yes, it is crucial to the ritual. I hope you don’t mind,” Haga responded. Nyx glared at the witch with unease, and got off his seat.</p><p>The feline and the ghost followed the witch down the stairs. Mylo paced quickly, but Nyx was a lot more hesitant.</p><p> </p><p>The basement had a strange scent to it. The cauldron glowed in bursting color, lighting up most of the room. Mylo and Nyx waited at the front for Haga to prepare her things.</p><p>The aged Delphox positioned herself in front of the cauldron, facing the two of them, "Alrighty, here we are. Sorry for the sudden request for help, Nyx, but this ritual needs someone who can enter the Dreamscape. A Gengar such as yourself is capable of this. I hope it isn't too much to ask of you."</p><p>The ghost paused for a moment. "Oh god. No, I don't do that anymore," A hint of fear could be heard trembling in his voice.</p><p>"I really don't want to."</p><p>Mylo locked his gaze with Nyx, there was sympathy in his golden pools, but also desperation, "Nyx, I don't know what happened to you but this is my only chance. I really need this."</p><p>Nyx looked at the Delphox and the Luxio back and forth, he felt overwhelmed. As he gazed back at Mylo, he couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but he didn't like having this responsibility suddenly being thrown at him. "Fine, I’ll do it," His response was low, barely audible.</p><p>The feline beamed with a smile, and quickly hugged the ghost. Nyx flinched in shock, nearly pushing him away in instinct. As Mylo let go, he felt relieved it was over.</p><p>The Gengar looked over at Haga sullenly, "Alright, let me know what to do." His tone sounded very reluctant.</p><p>She nodded, and then moved her gaze to Mylo. “Mylo, I need you to lie down in this hand drawn ritual circle. I assure you no blood sacrifices are in play."</p><p>The Luxio stepped forward towards Haga, and lied down in the middle of the circle as he was told.</p><p>"I am going to explain what will happen when this ritual starts. Ok sweetie?" The Delphox looked at the Luxio with a warm gaze.</p><p>He nodded in anticipation, and tried his best to bottle down the anxiety, but he kept feeling his heart thumping as if it was going to rip out of his chest.</p><p>"First off, you will fall asleep by the hand of this potion I made yesterday. This will make Nyx entering your Dreamscape much easier, you’ll wake just as soon as he returns from it." Haga started.</p><p>"Nyx, your objective is to find whatever is giving Mylo that amnesia and report back to us when you do find out. You can come back at any time and I’ve made sure there’s plenty of potion for several more attempts.”</p><p>Nyx nodded hesitantly.</p><p>“Well, it isn’t the first time I drank sleep potion stuff, so let’s just get this started I guess,” Mylo looked down at his paws.</p><p>Bonnie stood as far away from the rest of the group, she’d slipped in the basement after she’d walked down and noticed everyone was gone. The Eevee kept silent while everyone was focused on Haga, most likely unaware of her presence. She sat down, a little wary at what would be taking place but hopeful it would be fast for the sake of Mylo. As well as for her, in her own selfish way. The Eevee turned her head to Nyx.</p><p>"Goodluck in there, asshat. Tell us all his dirty little secrets when you come back out.”</p><p>The Gengar was surprised that Bonnie was even in here. He turned around to face her, “Can’t make any promises.”</p><p>Jack stood beside Bonnie, looking at Mylo from a distance with worry in his eyes, but as Mylo looked back at him he gave the cat a comforting smile. “Everything will be fine, trust me.” He spoke softly.</p><p>The Luxio nodded, still feeling anxiety but knowing that Jack was gonna be there right after was certainly easing.</p><p>"Mylo, I want you to take a sip of this potion, just a sip,” The Delphox held down the small flask near to the Luxio’s muzzle.</p><p>He did as instructed, the drink felt cold down his throat. When he was done it took a couple brief moments before the effect started kicking in, he felt fuzzy, and light headed, until darkness crept in.</p><p>Nyx stepped forward as Haga commanded, he muttered inaudibly underneath his breath.</p><p>"Alright Nyx, I want you to gently touch Mylo on the head to form the link into the Dreamscape and hop right in whenever you're ready," Haga explained.</p><p>Slowly, the Gengar reached out to the unconscious Luxio. As he felt contact, he closed his eyes and let his thoughts slip away into Mylo’s.</p><p> </p><p>At first everything was dark and empty. The only thing Nyx could feel or hear was the beating of his own racing heart. As a bright flash appeared, he knew he had succeeded in entering Mylo’s mindscape. His vision adjusted, and he found himself in an empty, flat plane. The atmosphere had distortions in color, not really fixing to a single one. He decided to start wandering around the fabric in space, waiting to find anything in this vacuum.</p><p>It felt like ages that he wandered through the emptiness, but he knew that time in the Dreamspace was a lot faster than in reality, and that he still had plenty of it.<br/>
Worry started festering inside of him, he didn’t want to be here. Never again. He didn’t want to risk seeing <em>him</em> again.</p><p>Nyx began noticing sounds that came alive, it was a relief since the emptiness had started feeling eerie. He also feared what he could encounter. The noise became more clear, appearing to be sounds of laughter, crying, screaming, talking. It felt like chaos. They came towards him, appearing out of a black hole. He figured these must be memories or dreams, something in Mylo’s head. There was so much, he didn’t understand why. He thought maybe it had something to do with his amnesia or curse. Nyx flicked them away, trying to pass through them in search for anything more concrete or useful.</p><p>With no warning, everything went silent. The plane returned to an empty vacuum. A dark figure on the horizon appeared, drawing him in slowly.</p><p>At first Nyx didn’t understand what was going on, until the figure slowly grew closer towards him. He now knew exactly what it was, exactly what he wanted to avoid.</p><p>“No. No, no, nonono. This can’t be happening right now. Please no,” the slurs of his begging repeated over and over in the void of Mylo’s mind. The scared ghost stood petrified as the figure called to him.</p><p>It was so close now, it’s arm reaching out. Nyx couldn’t stop himself from meeting it half way. Their hands nearly touched, but before they could, the Gengar heard loud cries echo and overlap in his mind. Reality distorting in on itself. He wanted to scream for help but the fear stopped him from doing anything.</p><p>Out of the empty space within the shadow, a bright light flashed with which the dark figure disintegrated in an agonizing spine chilling scream. Nyx was momentarily blinded by the bright light. As it faded out, he noticed immediately who stood before him. It was the Protector of Dreams herself.</p><p>“I thought we had an agreement,” The Legendary Pokémon’s voice was soothing and ethereal, echoing throughout the entire mindscape like it’s very existence was connected.</p><p>“I-I know, I’m sorry. I know I said I-“</p><p>Cresselia interrupted him, “You can’t let him travel to other mindscapes. You’re probably the only thing he is still connected to, if you travel to other planes it will expand his territory. My job is to make sure he can’t touch any Dreamscape ever again and you agreed to help with this, it is your duty to protect the world from his Nightmare.”</p><p>The ghost could feel anxiety fester in his body, it made him feel sick, “I just- I had to help this guy. Please you have to help me, what did you do to his mind?”</p><p>“You know that as a Legendary Pokemon it is my duty to protect this world from calamities, prevent them if possible,” The lunar Pokemon responded with caution.</p><p>Nyx nodded hesitantly, he didn’t know where she was going with this.</p><p>“So I assume you trust me that everything is under control,” she continued.</p><p>Nyx frowned and opened his mouth to protest but nothing came out.</p><p>"Now I trust that you keep all of this to yourself, don't dare bother spilling it to the others. It's best we keep this information as classified as possible."</p><p>She paused momentarily. “You trusted me before,” There was a strong hint in Cresselia’s tone, Nyx knew too well what she was referring too. He couldn’t look her in the eye, but he nodded compliantly.</p><p>“Let’s keep it that way. Also, you’re slipping.”</p><p>The ghost noticed that out of his panic his grip on the Dreamscape started to slip out of his grasp, crumbling before him, fading away into nothingness. He yelled out, trying to hold on longer, but there was no use. Failed again.</p><p> </p><p>After falling through the vacuum of space, he opened his eyes and was back in Haga’s basement.</p><p>Mylo’s body jerked awake, wailing in fear, tears started rolling down his eyes, “Wh- What the hell was that?” He screamed, sniffling through his tears.</p><p>“Mylo, I’m so sorry-" Nyx couldn’t approach him, he was frozen.</p><p>After a moment of him standing there, he felt it was important to ask the following question, “What did you see?”</p><p>Mylo rubbed his paws over his eyes, wiping some of his tears away, “I didn’t see anything, it wasn’t even a dream. I just felt pain. It was awful.”</p><p>Nyx didn’t know whether to feel relieved or feel really sorry for the Luxio having to go through that. However, he was glad that he didn’t see any of it.</p><p>Haga quickly rushed over to the two, locking them both into a hug. "Bless your souls for trying something like this, I'm so sorry you had to deal with that. If there were any other way that did not involve such crude tactics, then I would have taken it. I did not think it would end up like that,” She let go of them, "What did you see in there?”</p><p>“Nothing. Excuse me, I just need to take a minute,” a shadow casted over the ghost's face, he couldn’t look anyone in the eye.</p><p>A look of concern and sympathy fell over the Delphox’s expression, "Of course sweetie, take your time. I understand that one may find their mind to be overwhelmed after such a task."</p><p>Mylo tried to catch his breath, he looked down at his paws, letting his mind calm down and sink back into reality. As Jack rushed to his friend, Bonnie slipped out of the room to follow Nyx and see how the Gengar was really holding up.</p><p> </p><p>Nyx was outside, seated down on one of the wooden platforms that hung over the lakes of the swamp. The Eevee slowly approached the form of her acquaintance and also the only other person with common sense. Tentatively, she patted towards his left, situating herself right next to his figure. Bonnie lowered herself down and sat awkwardly next to him.</p><p>It would have been a kind gesture on her part if she’d come to comfort him in a time where he very obviously needed it, unfortunately that was not the case. She personally could not understand all of their dramatic tendencies nor really saw a reason to be upset in this situation. What she did see however was an opportunity to get one person on her side.</p><p>She remained quiet, looking out to the swamp and the trees surrounding the hut. Bonnie thought over her plans in her head, making sure it made sense to her before trying it out. Jack was obviously the main focus of their merry band, she could easily tell everyone always coddled him or sympathized with him. Ultimately that could backfire on her, so she needed someone that would back her up if it ever came down to it. Being on your own for months on end is not a desirable outcome she wanted out of her possible future conflicts between them. The tricky part was convincing Nyx to like her. The Eevee sorted through her small memories of Jack and Mylo to recall how they acted around each other when one needed comforting, it would be her best shot to mimic that.</p><p>After a couple dozen seconds, she tilted her head to look at the side of his face. She sighed before uttering the first words between them, "Everything will be fine, trust me. We can work through it together.” She wasn’t sure if it was noticeable how close her words were to Jack’s earlier ones but it would have to do.</p><p>Nyx flicked his ear in her direction, and soon gazed at her from the side. Based on her tone and wording, he couldn’t really tell if she was being earnest, since it seemed strangely out of character for her. However, he figured not to think too deeply about it. He nodded.</p><p>The chestnut Pokemon was a little panicked to say the least. What do people normally do now? Do they continue to talk or just stop it then? Her nerves frazzled, heart beginning to pound right before her head tinged with an idea. Nyx was similar to her in some way and from what she noticed he had a sullen and sarcastic tone about him. What better way to make him believe her then act like someone he’s familiar with, himself.</p><p>“I’ll wait for however long it takes for your purple ass to get it together before you get bombarded by the not-so-pretty flying dragon fairy.”</p><p>The Gengar raised a brow, this definitely sounded more grounded. Her request still puzzled him, but it definitely did not sound like a cheap lie anymore, so he decided to just give in for now. “... Alright,” his tone sounding less stern than before.</p><p>Both sat there in relative peace, taking a long look and absorbing the beauty of the place they were staying at. How different the marshlands looked when the sun had only just risen, the little insects going about their day, the way the building slightly swayed as if not grounded properly. That peace was broken by nothing other than the shrill loud voice of Jack.</p><p>The two designated sensible ones let out a long harmonised sigh. The smaller one of the two grumbled out, "Always him, isn't it?"</p><p>"Always."</p><p>Bonnie lifted her eyebrow and nodded her head towards the door silently asking, <em>You going in?</em></p><p>"Ugh, if it will make him shut up, probably."</p><p>The Eevee lifted herself up onto her paws making no move to the door, waiting for Nyx to make his move first. He got up with a tired gaze, and followed her.</p><p> </p><p>"Uhm, sorry for screaming. I just hope you're ok."</p><p>Jack was seated beside Mylo, and the two were sharing yet another moment together that day, which he realized they didn’t get as often anymore since they became this band of fools, so he took this time to just enjoy the atmosphere for once. Just enjoying the feline’s presence there beside him was comforting enough.</p><p>Jack plucked up some courage when Mylo seemed to have finally stopped shaking to dive into what had just happened to his poor friend.</p><p>"So, dude what happened back in there? You woke up all jazzed out, I’m worried."</p><p>“Well um, it’s hard to explain because I didn’t really dream anything. But I felt this terrible pain at some point. It was just so awful, I don’t know, It’s weird. I think Nyx knows why.”</p><p>Jack took his words into consideration. The Gengar did also look particularly shaken up after the whole ordeal, not as physical as Mylo, but it showed in his eyes.</p><p>"Well, I'll try to talk to him later or something. For now I'm just happy that you're better and that whatever you experienced didn't really hurt you."</p><p>Mylo nodded compliantly, "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better now."</p><p>At the entrance of the room Nyx and Bonnie were seen to enter again. The ghost was relieved to see Mylo look a lot better now than before, but his expression was very hard to read.</p><p>Jack acknowledged the others entering the room, gave Mylo a smile and walked over to the Gengar, "Hey, could we uhh, maybe talk for a sec or something."</p><p>Nyx felt a flurry of panic which he quickly shoved aside as he responded to the Noibat. "Oh, sure."</p><p>Jack stood there awkwardly for a moment and shuffled his feet, "Are we gonna, like, go somewhere private or what?"</p><p>The Gengar flinched, "Right yeah, makes sense."</p><p>He and the Noibat went up the stairs, away from the basement to speak alone.</p><p> </p><p>Jack took a seat on a stool across from Nyx, and tried to speak to him in a calm and kind tone just like he had with Mylo, "So, you wanna tell me about what happened down there?"</p><p>The ghost glared at him for a long moment before saying anything. "Well, I didn't want to do this in the first place. Let's just say I shouldn't enter anyone's Dreamscape or that will happen."</p><p>Jack let out a sigh of frustration, "Do you want to elaborate on that for me, my guy?"</p><p>The Gengar tried to think hard on an easy way out of this conversation to prevent it from hitting dangerous territory, "It just happens. I don't know why, but I turn dreams into nightmares as soon as I enter them." He hoped that Jack would give in to the lie.</p><p>The bat cocked his ears at the ghost, "What makes you think that it's somehow your doing that this happens?"</p><p>The Gengar felt the previous panic rise again, he wasn't sure how to respond. He tried to come up with another excuse, "I'm not sure but it could be because I'm a Gengar, a ghost type built for fucking with people’s dreams and shit."</p><p>Jack looked away from the ghostly man standing before him, and then locked eyes with him once more, this time with a serious expression, "Just because the rest of the world tries to explain you back to yourself doesn't mean that any of that's true. You know yourself better than anyone else, so don't let those stereotypes affect your vision of you."</p><p>Nyx was relieved that the Noibat didn’t question him again, but also taken aback by his sudden irrelevant thoughtfulness since it was coming from Jack out of all people. The ghost was silent as he didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t help but feel guilty for having him fall so easily into his lie.</p><p>The lavender bat just stared at him and furrowed his brows. "Well, I’m waiting for your fucking response, dumbass. Are you just not gonna say anything?"</p><p>The ghost blinked. “Jeez, ok. Thanks for the pep talk.”</p><p> </p><p>The two quietly made their way back downstairs, as they entered, the others in the room stared at them. Jack looked back at Nyx, but the Gengar stared forward at nothing, refusing to acknowledge the others’ gazes.</p><p>Mylo continued to try and meet Nyx’s avoidant gaze, “Nyx, could you please explain what happened?” The Luxio’s expression was desperate.</p><p>The ghost looked back at Mylo, he felt hesitant, but let go in a sigh, “Alright. Basically, I shouldn’t enter people’s Dreamscapes because when I enter them I turn them into a Nightmare. This is why I don’t go there anymore.”</p><p>The feline frowned slightly, “Wait so you knew this would happen? Why didn’t you say anything?” A hint of anguish could be heard in his voice.</p><p>“I thought that maybe I could try and shake it so I could help you get answers, but I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”</p><p>Mylo didn’t respond, he just looked down. He didn’t feel anger towards the Gengar, he just wished he could have received a warning.</p><p>“Did you find anything when you were there?” His voice was soft.</p><p>Nyx thought for a brief moment, trying to decide what he should say and what he shouldn’t, “There were a lot of things but it was quite overwhelming and I couldn’t understand any of it.”</p><p>His mind kept going back to Cresselia, but a part of him just couldn’t spit it out, fearing Cresselia getting angered towards him for saying too much. He felt selfish for it, but he couldn’t help it.</p><p>Mylo clawed the ground in frustration. His expectations weren’t high, but he still felt disappointed.</p><p>The Noibat came over to Mylo and took his paws in his two fingered claws, "Hey, this isn't over yet. We'll figure everything out, one way or another."</p><p> </p><p>The rest of the morning was spent quietly. Each splitting up into groups to cool off after the draining events that had occurred. With a considerable amount of time passing, they slowly regrouped back into the living room area of the messy witch hut. The Delphox’s face brightened immediately as she noticed all the teens piling into her space.</p><p>"There you all are! Come, take a seat. I've been meaning to ask you all something."</p><p>They did so accordingly, looking at the senior magic user, wondering what she was going to say. Jack kicked his small feet up whilst tipping back in his chair, rocking it gently back and forth, his wings behind his head.</p><p>"I was wondering whether you all had a plan after here. As in, is there any place in specific you all are planning to go to? Because if not then may I suggest a location?” The witch had the usual optimistic, caring tone to her voice.</p><p>"We’re definitely open to suggestions," The Luxio responded.</p><p>"Well, from your two friends over here I have heard that you are planning on visiting the Haduka Forest. Is that correct? There are countless experts when it comes to magic, probably many that exceed my knowledge."</p><p>That caught the ghost’s attention, "Finally, I get what I want. You guys better have not forgotten what you owe me."</p><p>Mylo rolled his eyes dramatically, “Yes Nyx, we didn’t forget.”</p><p>“Good.” He responded with a quick half assed smile.</p><p>"It puts a smile on my face to see you all are getting along so well," Haga leaned on the table with her elbow and had a soft smile.</p><p>Nyx scoffed, “That’s debatable.”</p><p>Jack kicked the Gengar in the back of his knee so he fell forward, "Don't listen to him, he's very senile."</p><p>The rest in the room glared in semi silence. Mylo frowned in annoyance at their banter, and it was hard to tell whether Bonnie was irritated or enjoying the scene.</p><p>Haga cleared her throat, "Well if I may add, since the Haduka Forest is so far away, I would suggest going to the next closest village in it’s direction. Attempting to get there immediately is quite risky and tiresome, especially if you aren’t an experienced Exploration Team.”</p><p>“That makes sense, what next stop would you recommend?” Mylo questioned.</p><p>"Well, a nearby place I would suggest is Virescent Village.”</p><p>"Is there any way we could get access to a map? Or some sort of directions?" the Luxio continued.</p><p>Haga scratched her chin for a moment, "I'm pretty sure I have a map of the area somewhere in the deep dark void of my basement, I'll be right back.”</p><p>Moments later, grunting from the distance, the Delphox emerged from the basement holding a large scroll in her hand. Panting, she paced towards the table in the living room to open it to full size.</p><p>"Alright, this is it. It's dusty and probably has some spilt chemicals on it, but nothing deadly. I hope."</p><p>The map was huge and incredibly detailed. He didn't know what he was looking at or where to start, it all seemed so alien to him.</p><p>"Wow, that's big. Where are we right now?"</p><p>"Good question," Haga said hesitantly. After a few seconds she had snapped back to reality, "Right, here we are."</p><p>She circled a large area on the map illustrated with willow trees, "Aldora Village. Yep, that should be right."</p><p>Mylo closed in, focusing on the circled point. He gazed around at the surrounding area near it on the map, trying to see if he could recognise familiar places. He wasn't fully aware of the map's scaling so it took him a long time to find Tekani Village.</p><p>Haga quickly circled another area surrounded by illustrations of lush green trees, "This is Virescent Village. It's not too far, however if you are going to take the shortest path there, you will have to make a camp to sleep overnight. After that, you should be able to make your way to Akyro City, the capital, in a couple days' time. From there you can restock your items, and continue up north towards the Moonstone Caves, which should then lead you straight to Haduka Forest."</p><p>Mylo didn't know how to feel about camping outside for the first time, so far they had always been able to find shelter, but he knew this was coming eventually.</p><p>Nyx scoffed, "Oh great, camping with these guys. What fun," His tone reeked with sarcasm.</p><p>The Luxio frowned in response to the ghost’s comment, but he was quick to ignore it. "I'm guessing we should prepare to leave soon?"</p><p>The Delphox nodded, "I can help you pack some necessities to aid you on your journey. The rest of you can pack your things."</p><p>The Luxio smiled with a quick nod. He looked back at the others, who had already began going upstairs to start packing.</p><p> </p><p>Jack headed to where he and Mylo had been staying. He waltzed around the room aimlessly, feeling a strange pressure in his stomach that almost felt melancholy to be leaving the kind and humble abode of the fox-formed witch. He sat down on the bed with his bag next to him and looked out the window for a few moments. Bonnie and Mylo followed him into the room, and stood there as they watched him.</p><p>The Luxio noticed the bat-like pokemon's longing gaze at the window, "I am gonna miss this place, to be honest." He figured that Jack must be feeling the same.</p><p>The Noibat turned to the window smiling but with his brows slanting downward at their end, making his face look like it was fighting back the sadness, "I’ve never said this but my home was never as open and nice to me as this place was. She is kind, that Haga.”</p><p>Bonnie quietly nodded in agreement. She could say something similar for herself, but she didn’t want to.</p><p>"She is. I'm surprised by how helpful she's been." Mylo gave him a warm smile.</p><p>"Do you think we could, I don’t know, maybe just keep her? She'd be a great asset to the team with her extensive knowledge and also brings a wiser, more aged perspective of things that we could use. Plus, she’s cool." The Noibat stammered, softer than usual.</p><p>The Luxio beamed in response to Jack's idea, "Should we ask her?"</p><p>Bonnie sat back and let them discuss the decision on their new found mother figure they apparently so desperately needed.</p><p>"I mean, I'm not afraid to ask if you are," A smile grew on the bat’s face.</p><p>The Luxio nodded, grinning.</p><p>Jack bolted out of the room and fluttered his way downstairs. As he arrived in the living room again, he waltzed over on his little feet to the towering Delphox hanging miles in the air above him. The Noibat coughed into his clenched little bawled up claw, with the other behind his back, and proceeded to tug lightly on her furry legs.</p><p>Haga looked down at him, "What can I help you with?” Her eyes were oddly tired.</p><p>Jack noticed her eyes behind the smile, and continued his questioning with a little bit more hesitation and shyness in his voice, "Do you, um, I mean would you wanna, you can um. If you want of course, but uh. Would you wanna join our gang, miss Haga?"</p><p>The tired Delphox looked in surprise at the sudden question, "Me? Your group?” She would have never expected something of the sort to be asked. Small tear droplets started to form in her eyes. Jack watched as the grown woman who stood before him began to tear up, and he too did.</p><p>"Oh, miss Haga!” He sniffed, “You’re awesome! Of course we want you in our lame group!" He hugged onto her leg and sat there crying, which made it very hard for Mylo and Bonnie to not burst into laughter at his deranged antics.</p><p>Haga hastily wiped the small droplets of tears from her face and quickly turned back to Jack and the others, “Sorry about the sudden burst of emotion. That request reminded me of something in the past. Yes, I would love to join your adventure.”</p><p>A smile spread across Jack’s face like a rainbow does upon a sky. He jumped into the air, flying around the ceiling of the room cheering, swooping himself into the Delphox’s arms happily hugging her.</p><p>Bonnie sighed, stuck between relieved and annoyed. As much as she liked Haga she wasn't sure if having another member would be good. It was just barely bearable with what they currently had.</p><p>Nyx entered the room and was confused by what he had just run into, "The hell’s going on here?"</p><p>“Haga’s joining our gang!” Jack responded loudly and enthusiastically.</p><p>One of the Gengar’s ears tilted to the side, “Wait, what? Really? I thought this was already pretty crowded.”</p><p>"That's what I was thinking," the Eevee nodded to the ghost's statement.</p><p>“What are you talking about? The more the merrier!” the Noibat exclaimed with joy.</p><p>Haga chuckled, and then got up with a smile. "Let's prepare our gear! We start adventuring as soon as we're all ready," the Delphox said in a sudden burst of energy.</p><p>Jack fluttered over towards Nyx excitedly and jumped over his head and onto his back, peeking over the Gengar’s spiky head and pointing his finger in the sky, “I was born ready.” To which Nyx growled.</p><p>"Adventure calls my childr- I mean my friends," Haga exclaimed.</p><p>And so, the travellers along with their new companion began their next journey. Haga said her goodbye to Larry, leaving him in charge of her home, and they left the comfortable swamp village as they hit the road, slowly moving closer to the marshland wilderness.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Plagued Slumber</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Again wow chill the fuck out edgelords</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The group of misfits continued on their straight path down the marshlands, lucky they had found a nice solid road separate from the areas covered in swamp water and sprouting tree roots. Every now and again, Yanmegas could be seen or at least heard flying and buzzing around the area, filling the empty silence with life. </p>
<p>Jack clung half asleep to Nyx’s back, slipping slowly down farther and farther. The Gengar noticed the Noibat slipping away from grip and he subtly pulled the bat-like Pokemon back upwards to prevent him from falling over during his slumber.</p>
<p>The scenery had given Haga vivid flashbacks, making her smile. The Delphox had basically lived most of her life here, apart for her childhood and some years here and there. She had spent years studying every tree, every rock, every mushroom in Aldora Village's outskirts. Everything surrounding the village was familiar to her, and now, seeing these new trees spanning infinitely ahead seemed wonderful. She would have thought that she was living a fantasy before believing it was real. The group she had joined, it reminded her of her first Rescue Team.</p>
<p>Haga took a deep breath in, enjoying the new fresh air. Maybe she could find old friends in the villages they were headed for, maybe even see <em> him </em> again. The witch shook her head, <em>"Stop putting thoughts in your head that will never happen,"  </em> she thought, <em>"He's long gone by now and that's a fact." </em></p>
<p>Jack was still passed out on Nyx's back, heavily in the land of sleep. He nuzzled into his dark purple fur unconsciously, and let out a deep sigh, blissfully resting. The Gengar looked back at the Noibat with a stern glare, he wasn't fond of the nuzzling, but he wasn't mad enough to wake him up for it. He decided to suck it up.</p>
<p>Mylo could feel his thick coat soak in the sun as noon started breaking near. There were barely any clouds in the sky, and the sun's powerful rays reflecting in the water only gave more into this effect. It felt comfortable, and welcoming. He looked over at his companions, they were all fairly silent, probably all wrapped around their own thoughts. He wondered how it must've felt like to have memories of one's lifetime, there must be so much to think about, so much going on in their heads. He wished he could say the same for himself. As soon as his ritual experience with Nyx, his hope for recovering his memories was starting to slip, it made him feel uneasy since all he had left was hope, he couldn't afford to lose it. Mylo told himself to stop thinking that way, but a part of him couldn't help it.</p>
<p>The Luxio noticed Haga's strangely sullen expression, she seemed especially deep in thought, it bothered him since he was so used to her cheerful energy. He decided to walk closer to her, maybe to start a conversation, he wasn't sure yet.</p>
<p>The Delphox stretched her arms out, followed by a symphony of pops in the shoulders and arms region that seemed years overdue.</p>
<p>“Sweet Arceus, I feel like I just gained half my life span back," The witch immediately put her hand back on the staff before she fell over, recently she had needed to rely on it more. It was easy to say her deformities weren't giving her a fun time.</p>
<p>Mylo made eye contact with her, in attempts to start a conversation. "Have you been outside of Aldora Village before?"</p>
<p>“Well, yes. I used to travel a lot, but after that I lived in Aldora pretty much for most of my life," the bipedal canine replied, "I’ve been in the same hut for about 25 years. There was however, a time when I lived in a clan of Delphoxes. But I'm sure you wouldn't recognise the name of it, I'm afraid. A little bit of untaught history. I lived there until I was about 16, then some things changed. Back then it was quite lively, there were more people, more interaction and more company."</p>
<p>"Oh, I thought Aldora Village was already quite lively. I don't remember many places so maybe that's why."</p>
<p>Haga smiled at the Luxio's comment, "Yes, it is quite lively here, but the people have never really been a fan of my work. Dark magic isn't always looked upon highly by many, I suppose."</p>
<p>The cat nodded in understanding. "Right, yeah. I've heard Jack say that a couple of times. People don't seem too keen on it."</p>
<p>Jack snorted and jumped slightly in his sleep, then immediately relaxed again. Yep. He was still out cold. </p>
<p>Mylo's attention was caught by the Gengar and Noibat pair, but then he shortly reverted back to the conversation with Haga, "I'm confused about it though. What is it about Dark Magic that is so controversial? Forgive me, but I don't really know anything about it."</p>
<p>Her face remained still, "Well, Dark Magic is really just magic that is considered to go too far, as in there is a great power that comes with a great cost. Typically it is the pinnacle of magic users who could control Dark Magic if given the time. I can't help but feel that those who named it Dark Magic misunderstand that they are grouping these different magic types into that of ‘Dark Magic.’”</p>
<p>Mylo took a moment to process what Haga was telling him. He always wondered what drove Jack towards that type of sorcery in the first place. "That's odd. Why would they do that?"</p>
<p>"In short, most of it is just really strong magic, and since it's so strong it's hard to control, so they just deem it dark and twisted and call it a day," The Delphox explained.</p>
<p>The feline nodded again at Haga's response. He couldn't help but remember that strange moment with Jack this morning when the Noibat mentioned how if he wasn't more careful, he could've hurt him by accident. He didn't know why, but it made his fur tingle a little in discomfort. He now had some idea of what Jack meant.</p>
<p>"Do you know more Dark Magic users besides Jack?"</p>
<p>Haga's face dropped for a mere moment before quickly picking itself up, "...Yes. My brother,” she said with a strange sound to her voice.</p>
<p>Mylo noticed the witch’s dropped expression, and could hear hesitation in her tone. He felt a little puzzled by it, and wasn't sure if he wanted to ask more about her brother, it seemed to be a touchy subject.</p>
<p>The fox quickly waved back in apology, "Sorry, sorry. It’s just been a long time since I have mentioned him. I haven’t seen him in years.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry about that.”</p>
<p>Haga waved it off, "No, no, there's no need for that. I've grown past it, years have passed and it’s history that best be forgotten. I think it's best to not suffer twice."</p>
<p>The Luxio nodded in agreement. A silence fell over the travelers. He thought about how everyone he was traveling with probably had many memories that haunted them, that they tried to bury or left behind. It made him start to feel guilty for his desire to retrieve his memories back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the back of the back, Bonnie looked over at the sleeping Noibat a couple times over the course of their walk before a mischievous smirk grew on her face. The Eevee grabbed a couple of rocks that she found along the pathway, and slyly trotted towards the Gengar and the Noibat. </p>
<p>Nyx, as tired as he was, paid no attention to Bonnie. She took it as an opportunity to place some of the rocks in Jack's bag. After her job was done she quickly paced away from them. She could barely contain her snicker, and felt excited to see her plan come into action, as soon as Jack would awake, he would have to struggle with a heavy bag without knowing why.</p>
<p>After some time though, the brown feline began to feel bored by how long it was taking for Jack to wake up, so she continued with placing rocks alongside the other ones in his bag.</p>
<p>Jack's body slipped further and further down the Gengar’s back, being weighed down more and more, and yet he continued in his deep slumber.</p>
<p>Nyx tried to pull the bat back up, but for some reason it kept feeling heavier each time. He was confused, but passed it off as him being tired. </p>
<p>"Can you just please stop fucking sliding off?" he muttered softly.</p>
<p>Jack snored in response and then jolted, muttering something. <em>Damn</em>, Nyx knew Noibats were naturally a nocturnally trained species, but Jack sleeping through this whole trip was as though he were dead.</p>
<p>As time passed on, the situation only got worse and the Gengar was starting to lose his patience. He stopped and shook Jack in an attempt to wake him, he got no response. Nyx grunted and pulled the Noibat off of his back, and placed him in front of him. The ghost noticed how large the bat’s bag was, and as he opened it he found a large stack of pebbles. The Gengar growled in anger as he saw the Eevee giggling, running off towards Mylo and Haga. </p>
<p>He turned his gaze back to the passed out Noibat in front of him. "Hey, wake up." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Nyx threw the rocks out of the bag, and then pulled his attention back to Jack. The Gengar poked his face, but to no avail. His eyes narrowed. The ghost then grabbed Jack firmly and started shaking him. Nothing. He couldn't help but notice his brain jumping to crazy conclusions. Could it be who he thought it was causing this? No… Cresselia had that under control, he hoped. </p>
<p>"Hey, Haga. Jack is dead asleep and won't wake up. It's kinda weird."</p>
<p>Haga's face lost color as soon as the words left the Gengar’s mouth, "Oh shi- I mean let me take a look at him really quickly.” </p>
<p>The Delphox approached Nyx in an instant, rushing as she dropped everything and almost ran as if she had no disability, sliding like a pro guitarist on a stage right next to the ghost. She began by poking the bat’s face, which then converted into violent shaking. At this rate Haga was shaking the small bat as if she had a piece of candy stuck in a vending machine.</p>
<p>Nyx felt his heart rate spiking. What if this was his mistake? What if this was happening because of his error in Mylo's dreamscape? His expression wasn't as stern as the usual, in fact his eyes were quite wide.</p>
<p>Mylo was taken aback by Haga's distressed reaction. He ran over towards the scene, but he kept some distance to make sure the witch could do her work. Seeing Jack knocked out like that made him very afraid.</p>
<p>Haga quickly stopped after realizing her hysteric shaking of the Noibat as if he was a gumball machine didn't do the trick.</p>
<p>"The time for shaking is over, its spell blasting time,” she said, “Except, gently."</p>
<p>"What's wrong with him?" The Luxio’s voice cracked.</p>
<p>"He's breathing. At least before I shook him till the point of no return. But I think it's unnatural, it might be related to magic. No one except me sleeps this deep,” The fox kept her voice suppressed, but she clearly was concerned.</p>
<p>The witch quickly grabbed her walking stick, what seemed to be a regular walking cane started to glow with white specters of light spinning around the twigs. She struggled to stand up, and took a breath before aiming her staff at the bat on the floor, laying as if he were a mosquito slapped by a swatter. Small whispers escaped Haga’s mouth which scaled up the brightness of the white specters, shooting a small transparent beam, covering the sleeper entirely. She finished the spell by sealing the whispers with <em>"</em> <em> Awaken ." </em></p>
<p>Jack bursted his eyes open as soon as the word left Haga's mouth. His head and eyes were hazy, his mouth completely dry. He didn’t know what was happening but he heard muffled voices all around him.</p>
<p>"Oh thank Arceus," the fox sighed in relief. Before the she could stand up right her eyes rolled back and she dropped her staff, collapsing on the floor.</p>
<p>Nyx sighed in relief as the Noibat opened his eyes, only to then be completely caught off guard by the Delphox suddenly collapsing. In response he did the best he could to hold Haga’s towering body up by her shoulders.</p>
<p>The weakened bat reached his arm up to grab something, anything, he wanted to know where he was. He wanted to be comforted.</p>
<p>Mylo ran over towards him and wrapped himself around him, but looking straight into the Noibat's eyes, "Oh my god, Are you ok?"</p>
<p>Jack felt the softness of Mylo’s fur and knew him from that familiar smell, he heard his voice still muffled. The Noibat tried to speak to the best of his ability. </p>
<p>“Th-thank… Y-you…” he mumbled softly, it was barely audible.</p>
<p>The feline’s eyes were clouded with concern. He didn’t know what to say.</p>
<p>Jack was still shaking in Mylo’s grasp, but his eyes were finally adjusting and he could hear clearly again. </p>
<p>“Uh. What’s up, party people?”</p>
<p>Nyx looked at Jack from a distance, as he was struggling to keep Haga’s giant body from collapsing to the floor. His expression was hard to read, but he felt worried as well. He didn't expect to hear him speak already, "Peachy, You?"</p>
<p>"I don't know why you guys were worried. I was pleased with the peace and quiet," Bonnie washed herself with her paw, just like a cat would. Seemingly unfazed by the event.</p>
<p>A few moments passed and the unconscious Haga grunted back to life. She rubbed her head, feeling as if she were 17 at a bar on the weekends again.</p>
<p>The Gengar noticed the fox’s wake, still struggling immensely as he tried to keep the giant Pokemon from falling over. </p>
<p>“I’m ok, thanks for the save,” Haga sighed.</p>
<p>"Should we find some place to wind down?" Nyx looked at the aged Pokemon for reassurance.</p>
<p>"I think a few minutes wouldn't hurt anyone, I hope." </p>
<p><br/>
<br/>
</p>
<p>The tired travellers managed to find a large willow tree beside a stream. It was tangled along with mangroves, it served as a very nice shelter from the sun, and was bedded with soft dewy moss. Haga and the others made it to the tree before she collapsed again in exhaustion. Meanwhile, Mylo helped Jack settle down on the plushy moss.</p>
<p>"Yeesh, Arceus might have upped my calendar year by a couple decades." Haga spoke, exhaustion clouding her voice. Mylo looked back at the canid with some concern.</p>
<p>"I'm fine sweetie, just a little exhausted," She responded with her usual warm smile.</p>
<p>"That looked pretty rough," Nyx chipped into the conversation, "But I’m guessing you being a witch and all should make it natural to overcome these sorts of things." He brushed off his slightly compassionate statement with his regular blunt attitude.</p>
<p>"If only I were at my prime age. I'm afraid I’m around ten years expired," Haga chuckled.</p>
<p>"Well, you saved Jack back there, I'm really grateful for that." Mylo gave her a smile of gratitude. He kept his long tail curled around the Noibat’s back for support.</p>
<p>The Delphox picked herself back up, this time seeming to have regained a portion of her strength, being able to hold herself up and catch her breath. </p>
<p>"Wow I am out of shape." She laughed. "The last time I casted spells like this was <em> years </em> ago."</p>
<p>The Luxio tilted his head in curiosity, "What kind of spell was it?"</p>
<p>Haga leaned on the willow tree next to her for support, "It was an awakening spell, used typically in medical fields as a way to wake up patients put to sleep using magic."</p>
<p>The cobalt feline looked over at Jack, who seemed really unresponsive, he was probably exhausted and needed some rest, "What do you think happened to him?"</p>
<p>The Delphox’s eyes grimmed slightly as she looked at him laying there barely conscious, "It's a hunch, but I think magic might be involved."</p>
<p>"Either he cast a spell on himself or someone else did.”</p>
<p>"Magic users aren't as rare as you'd think, what I'm concerned is if this magic user is strong," Haga placed her clawed hand underneath her chin as she was in deep thought.</p>
<p>“Why would anyone want to be messing with us?” The Luxio questioned.</p>
<p>Nyx coughed. “Well, because people are cruel.” Mylo raised a brow at him.</p>
<p>"Whoever this may be, the fact they casted a sleeping spell tells us it's not a deadly one. Unless they're trying to put us in a coma, which is strange, but who knows?” Haga shrugged.</p>
<p>Nyx narrowed his eyes, “Whatever it is, I suggest we keep a high alert when we continue.” </p>
<p>"I can cast a spell to detect magic around us after I have fully recovered," the Delphox offered, "It won't end up like recently this time, I'll make sure of it." </p>
<p>Mylo sat down beside the Noibat and grabbed a couple of berries from the bag. He took a couple bites from his fruit. Jack gently nibbled the berry before him, and leaned over to put his head on the cat’s shoulder. </p>
<p>“Hey, I’m sorry if I scared you guys back there,” the Noibat said with a croaky voice. </p>
<p>Mylo responded in a soft tone, “It’s ok, it wasn’t your fault. I’m just glad you’re ok now.”</p>
<p>Jack's fur fluffed in a manner of which he couldn’t tell what he was feeling, but he knew he was glad to have him by his side, “No, you don’t understand. But thank you, Mylo, thank you.”</p>
<p>The Luxio felt puzzled by the Noibat’s use of words, but he decided to just roll with it for now, “No problem.”</p>
<p>Haga took her time to get up before getting the attention of the others, "I hate to be the one saying it, however, if we overstay our welcome here then we may have to spend two nights instead of one, so I suggest we at least go our pace, but we keep moving.”</p>
<p>Mylo nudged Jack gently to get up. One by one the group picked up their belongings, and picked themselves up, ready to continue their journey.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The land onward had a lot more trees, and less water. The soil was more dry and intact, but remnants of the aquatic terrain still remained due to the numerous streams that came from the marshlands. The path grew smaller, and more wild, as the plant life grew taller, making it a little harder to look around. They were nearing into the wilderness.</p>
<p>Bonnie huffed in exhaustion. She was used to walking for longer periods of time, but this was getting tough. She noticed how the sun had passed after noon, and was probably nearing the evening. She looked over at Mylo, and tried to imagine if his back would be a comfortable transport for her. The Eevee trotted over to him. "Hey blueberry, can I sit on your back? I'm fucking exhausted."</p>
<p>"Um, sure." He stopped, and crouched to let Bonnie climb on. The Eevee grabbed the back of the Luxio mane as support, and let her hind legs hang on each side of the feline’s flank. When she felt comfortable, she rested her head down on his shoulders. </p>
<p>"You good up there?" Mylo asked before following the rest. The Eevee nodded compliantly, and he continued to pace.</p>
<p>Bonnie felt her eyelids droop heavily. The larger feline’s back was much softer than she expected it would be. She began to purr as she fell into a much needed nap.</p>
<p>As they continued on Haga began to notice the current state of the group, with Bonnie having a beauty rest on her mighty chariot, and Jack clinging on to the disgruntled ghost. She didn't really know why, but it gave her a very vivid memory of her first Rescue Team. It felt just like yesterday when she was still a Braixen, accompanied by a Lairon and a Growlithe. Her own little team, her own little family. </p>
<p>Nyx quickly glanced at Jack on his back, checking to see if he was awake. The Noibat was indeed up, but his gaze looked tired and distressed, staring absentmindedly into the horizon. The ghost noticed that Mylo too kept glancing at Jack. He wasn't surprised, he assumed these two were really close.</p>
<p>The tired travellers kept moving, and the once blue sky mellowed into an amber color, the golden sun was hanging at the edge of the horizon, and trees started packing together, forming the start of the woodlands. The air felt cooler, and more humid. Nocturnal bug type Pokemon started chirping, and most of the streams from the marshlands were behind them. The edge of the forest was ahead.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As the Delphox settled camp and pulled out the necessities out of her travel bag, the night had immediately set on them, leaving only the light of lanterns and a few Illumise and Volbeat hanging fluttering here and there in the air. The moon was a dim light source, so she immediately set a campfire to keep everyone warm.</p>
<p>Haga waltzed around the area collecting big enough sticks, however she couldn't help but notice the night was oddly eerie today. Besides the beautiful moon shining down without any clouds blocking it and a nice cooling breeze being present, something just felt wrong. This breeze, it didn't feel natural, it felt artificial, as if it were not made by nature, but by something else entirely.</p>
<p><em>"</em> <em> It must be my exhaustion and recent collapse," </em> she thought. The Delphox seemed to believe it until she met eyes with something far away in the forest. She glared, and it glared right back, just as focused. The eyes were glowing and crimson in color, but the body couldn't be seen. Haga didn't know why, but she felt very tense. She took small steps and it seemed that the eyes were following her every move. She blinked for a mere moment, hoping that it would be a vivid nightmare, and to her happiness, it disappeared.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Back at the camp Mylo and Nyx had eye contact for a brief moment, they seemed to be thinking the same thing. </p>
<p>"Haga has been taking quite a while," The Luxio’s face clearly expressed his concern. </p>
<p>The Gengar was much more inscrutable, as usual. But he did share Mylo's concerns to an extent. "Yeah, I wonder what's keeping her. She is a witch though, I bet she can handle herself." </p>
<p>"I'm not so sure about that. She seemed quite worn out," The feline chose his wording cautiously.</p>
<p>Nyx raised a brow, giving Mylo a somewhat judgmental look. </p>
<p>"What? It's true! Didn't you see her?" The Luxio spoke defensively.</p>
<p>"I'm not saying you're wrong."</p>
<p>“I’m starting to feel bad for forcing her along. She didn’t even have to come, but she still did.” Mylo looked down in guilt.</p>
<p>“Look, no one forced her to come along. She’s a grown adult capable of her own decision making, if this journey is a risk for her that’s her own responsibility,” Nyx replied as honest as he could.</p>
<p>Mylo was taken aback by the Gengar’s incredibly blunt response, but figured that he did have a point.</p>
<p>Before anyone could expect anything else, a clawed hand emerged from the darkness, gripping the willow tree nearest to them. Mylo and Nyx jumped in shock, their wide eyes were locked at the sight.</p>
<p>Following a groan, Haga emerged from the darkness, covered by leaves and twigs in her fur. </p>
<p>"Sticks," The Delphox carried a handful of medium sized branches near the fire.</p>
<p>"How are you two doing? Surprised you haven't fallen asleep already," Haga said with a warm grin.</p>
<p>"I thought it would be wise to wait for you to return before I'd try and sleep," Mylo responded earnestly. Nyx didn't respond, he just looked away.</p>
<p>"That is very thoughtful of you Mylo, thank you. Well, since I'm back now, I'm sure that you must all be exhausted, so it's best you try and sleep soon enough to recharge for tomorrow morning," the witch spoke as she organized the wooden sticks beside the campfire.</p>
<p>"Will do," the cobalt feline nodded.</p>
<p>The cat and the ghost returned facing the campfire. Mylo curled himself close to Jack, and let the warmth of the fire melt into his face as he prepared to sleep. Nyx sat down and used a fallen log behind him to lean on. He felt tired, but not sleepy, so he just let himself get hypnotized by the dancing flames.</p>
<p>Haga decided to stay up and keep watch, for both the group and whatever lurked in the shadows. It was almost as if they were a small bubble of light in a pool of darkness, ready to burst at any moment. The Delphox however kept her guard up, thinking of possible spells that she could cast if something were to emerge.<em>  "A nice Psybeam should do the trick,"  </em>she thought in her head as she planned battle strategies for possible attacks.</p>
<p>Before Haga could come up with an alternative, she looked up again into the shadows far away, and this time kept her eyes there. It was all dark, nothing could be seen, not even moonlight pierced that area. A few seconds passed and it all seemed fine. The large fox was about to focus on the fire again before her gaze locked back on the darkness. That pitch black which she stared at for seconds revealed the same red eyes again. The eyes glared back at her, however she was more confident with blinking it away like a nightmare. The Delphox blinked a couple times, but they didn't fade. She rubbed her eyes. Nothing changed, they still glared back at her. Now the eyes did the one thing that she dreaded the most, and started moving towards her, floating its way towards the camp. It started at a slow pace, then it began to speed up, closer and closer. </p>
<p>Panicked, Haga closed her eyes one final time, hoping that by praying as hard as she could she could escape this vivid nightmare, "Oh dear Arceus, oh dear Arceus,” The witch was interrupted with the eyes, which halted right at the edge of the shadows. </p>
<p>"There is no hope here," it spoke, leaving Haga to be paralysed on the spot, "You came here to the darkness. No light will protect you, fox". </p>
<p>She tried to say something, anything, but nothing came out. Haga awoke in a gasp, panting and sweating, her adrenaline levels through the roof. </p>
<p>Nyx's attention had been caught by the Delphox jerking awake. He noticed how scared she seemed, which made him begin to feel afraid as well. Afraid that perhaps it was linked to his mistake that the others were suffering from nightmares. What if he had let <em> him </em>loose by accident? Cresselia had mentioned to him multiple times some of the consequences that could occur, the possibility of it spreading to others. This couldn't be a coincidence. </p>
<p>"Everything alright?" the ghost’s voice was low, so he wouldn't wake up the others.</p>
<p>Haga started to slow her breathing down to a normal pace again before turning to Nyx, "Yeah I'm alright, just a vivid nightmare. I saw something in the forest, but it was a false alarm, sorry."</p>
<p>The Gengar was not convinced by the fox's attempt to make it seem like everything was ok. He was silent for a moment before he spoke again, "I'm not so sure you believe that's true."</p>
<p>"The nightmare felt quite real to be fairly honest," The Delphox sighed, "but I assure you it was nothing more than a dream."</p>
<p>Nyx didn't know how to respond. He couldn't really talk about this, but he couldn’t convince himself that this was normal. </p>
<p>A momentarily silence broke between the two, until Haga broke it. "I think I'm going to keep watch for the night. Also, you should've already been asleep, it's very late."</p>
<p>"I'll be fine, I'm not really feeling all that sleepy anyways," the ghost responded. "I guess I could help keep watch as well. Never know what could be out there."</p>
<p>The Delphox wasn't so sure how to feel about it. On one hand, she felt a little worried that he might regret staying up all night only to be exhausted for tomorrow, but she decided not to push further. "Ok, just don't feel pressured to. If you feel any bit of tiredness, just go to sleep. I can handle it."</p>
<p>Nyx nodded quietly, and then gazed off into the darkness of the woodlands again. The woods revealed absolutely no signs of life at least that he could tell. It felt wrong to him, since forests were often quite filled with it. He wondered if maybe some presence would have driven everything away, this setting felt all too familiar to an awful memory. He tried to force himself to stop thinking about it, and just stick to the task.</p>
<p>Haga couldn't stop herself from dwelling on what she had just experienced. The message that the darkness gave her still ran chills down her spine as she thought about it.<em> '</em> <em> No light will protect you', </em>she had more questions than answers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As time flew by,  the sky lit up in a faint grey color, dawn was breaking near. The fire had gone out, and the others were still asleep. A slight breeze had passed through this time, leaving a cool fresh feeling to wake up from. This gust managed to be strong enough to slowly push the Delphox, who was leaning on the stick whilst sleeping, causing her to fall and wake up panicked. Nyx, having not slept a wink, widened his eyes at the ungraceful scene.</p>
<p>"And we're up," Haga grunted as she picked herself up, saying it quietly enough to not wake the rest of the group.</p>
<p>"That looked rough," The ghost commented quietly.</p>
<p>"I imagine I might not have held through the night," Haga sighed.</p>
<p>The ghost shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't a problem. Nothing bad happened anyway."</p>
<p>"That's a relief to hear at least.”</p>
<p>"When do you wanna wake em?" Nyx gestured towards the sleeping bunch.</p>
<p>"I suppose waking them up now would be best so we all have time to prepare ourselves and arrive on schedule," the witch suggested, "But then again, I could never wake these wonderful children, just look at them, sleeping and adorable." She looked over them with care in her gaze.</p>
<p>The Gengar didn't share her maternal feelings towards the rest one bit, and stared down at them with a scowl, "Nah, let's wake ‘em." </p>
<p>"Ok, fine," the older fox gave in. She started with small soft claps, gradually increasing in loudness, she was aiming to wake them up gently. Nyx saw no progression coming from her clapping, so he decided to do his part.</p>
<p>“Wake up!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.</p>
<p>The young travelers awoke in a haze of confusion and left over exhaustion caused by the hard ground they were sleeping on.</p>
<p>"Wh- what's happening!?" Mylo jumped up in fear, his fur standing on end, only to find out it was just Nyx being an ass.</p>
<p>"Man, fuck you," Bonnie grumbled as she slowly got herself up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The group collected their things, and continued their pace through the overgrown woods. Mylo kept himself close to Jack, he still felt fairly concerned for his friend, since he was quite unusually quiet ever since the incident yesterday. </p>
<p>The Luxio tried to gather the courage to ask him the following, but he was afraid he would get some half-assed response, "What exactly happened yesterday? You know, when uh-"</p>
<p>Jack looked straight ahead, making an effort not to look at Mylo so that he couldn't see the fear in his eyes. He thought back to what had happened earlier that morning. He had flicked through the pages of the books he found a couple days ago, trying to find something, anything that could aid him in his quest, to be able to find something that could right the wrong he'd done. He picked up the pace, and then he came across the page he was looking for. The book told of a spell which he’d foolishly followed the instructions. He was so naive, not knowing what things awaited him inside, waiting to pry him apart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“It was just a bad dream,” Jack uttered.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Mhm the plot continues to thicken, not by much tho</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The Cowardly Reptile</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The travelers continue their journey through the Virescent Woods, only to be met by an unlikely newcomer.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The group had managed to pick up pace quickly, and watched as their surroundings began to turn into a deeply overgrown environment, filled to the brim with lush greenery, and a multitude of plant species.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nyx restlessly glanced around the woods, this place reminded him of something that he would rather forget. It kept him on edge, prepared to react to any sudden movements or strange signs. Besides, in recent times Shadow Pokemon had been spotted more frequently, it seemed like a good reason to remain alert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We're getting close, it's not long until we reach Virecs-" Before Haga could finish her sentence a strange noise had caught the attention of the entire group. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The forest itself was quiet, so any sounds besides themselves would easily grant eyes locked on to it. A bush near to them had started rattling. Something was coming, and fast. It was small, and the bushes and ferns granted it camouflage so it was difficult to identify. The only noticeable feature was the rustling of leaves trailing towards them.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nyx, who was already alert, got into a battle ready position, and glided at the speed of a bullet towards the figure hidden between the leaves, knocking it into a large tree behind, and kept a steady grip.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The creature revealed from the thick overgrowth appeared to be a small, emerald green reptile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the heat of the moment, the Gengar did not know what he was attacking, until he let himself focus on the Pokemon he had pinned against the tree.<em> "</em></span>
  <em>
    <span>A Snivy?" </span>
  </em>
  <span>He thought to his own confusion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Snivy screeched at the top of it's lungs after seeing the scary ghost towering over it. “Don’t kill me, please! It’s my first day!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Gengar widened his eyes, this was definitely not what he expected. He let go of the young Pokemon, but still eyed it down intimidatingly. "Wh- what the-"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soon enough, the rest of the group caught up with Nyx, and gazed at them in astonishment.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"That went quick," Mylo spoke bluntly. His large golden eyes watched the small newfound stranger with curiosity.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The grass Pokemon began wailing hysterically and sprinted past the Gengar, booking it for the road until she locked eyes with the towering menacing Luxio. She let out an even louder scream. “Big cat big cat! Help! Don’t eat me, I taste horrible!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Immediately the Snivy ran the only direction left, running as far as she could from the Luxio and the Gengar, however to no avail as she had come face to face with a giant Delphox, staring her down. Her shrill was so loud some of the group members had to cover their ears. “B-big fox, nononono, Please! What do you want from me!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The group awkwardly stared at the wailing reptile, not knowing how to interfere. The Snivy at this point was closing her eyes tightly and running in circles. Nyx signalled at Haga to intervene, he assumed that she knew how to deal with distressed children.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Delphox without second thought slowly approached the odd reptile who thought running in a circle for a minute by now would save her from a predator, if the time ever came. "Are you lost, sweetie?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Snivy started slowing down from the circle running, not because of Haga's question, but because she was getting tired and exercise didn’t seem like her strong suit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga began to speak again, her voice was calm. “Sweetie, I'm not going to eat you, I promise, I don't eat Snivys, I'm vegetaria- oh wait that's worse in this case- uuhhhh I mean,” She struggled. Children's advice was never really her forte, and she feared she might have accidentally told the young girl that she was delectable. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I-I only eat vegetables that aren't alive, so you-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re going to kill me! I knew it! You only eat dead stuff!” The reptile’s cries continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga panicked further. “Wait, no no, this is a misunderstanding! Look, I don’t eat you, and never ate anything closely related to your kind, I’m a carrots and berries sort of fox.” She tried. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Snivy felt very confused and scared, one moment she was simply adventuring on her first day, next moment she was met by a towering fox, a menacing big cat, and an angry purple ball with giant red eyes. However, she was surrounded and she knew even someone as small and fast as her wouldn't be able to run from this. So she decided to breathe more calmly, whilst having tears in her eyes as remnants of the idea of this group eating her on the spot.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Kid, I think you might be lost, someone like you shouldn't be out here on their own," Unlike Haga, Nyx didn't speak in a very welcoming tone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I-I a-am just exploring like an... an ex-explorer… I-it’s my first day," The small reptile sniffled, the scary ghost looked angry at her and she didn't know why.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Keh, you're an explorer huh? Then where's your Exploration Team? They ditch you?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mylo elbowed him with a frown, as a gesture for him to shut up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I-I am a-alone in this team," The grass type pokemon stammered.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Kid, hate to break it to you, but a team kinda needs to have more than 1 person, that's sorta the point, y'know?" Nyx narrowed his eyes, ignoring Mylo’s gesture.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Snivy tried to think of a response to the aggressive ghost, but Haga intervened. "Nyx, let me handle this, I think a little grace wouldn't hurt." She crouched down to be at a lower level so that the Snivy would feel slightly less intimidated by her towering over her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey, sweetie, there's a village not far ahead, do you want us to take you there? I think it's a better place to plan things as there is only so much we can help you with in the middle of the woodlands," the Delphox suggested.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The jade reptile looked at the fox for a long moment before snapping back to reality. She had no clue what she was doing, it was her first day as an explorer, well, uncertified. "Y-yeah." The Snivy calmed down finally. "Yeah I think that would work".</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga got back up from her crouching, and gazed around the forest. "We should get going before we overstay our welcome in these woods."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I can't believe we just recruited another weird kid into this group," Nyx muttered towards Bonnie as the rest resumed their journey.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"I am going to kill myself if theres another one," the Eevee responded with a similar tone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The two exchanged a tired look.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The further they delved into the overgrown woods, the more entangled and claustrophobic it became. Barely any sunlight managed to pierce through the thick ceiling of trees. The path had shrunken, as ferns, bushes, weeds and more invaded the space, making it difficult to manoeuvre. Mylo nearly tripped over twigs countless times, and had several brambles get intertwined on his fur, but to his relief his pelt was thick enough to prevent him from getting scraped, at least to this extent.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>With their new companion on board for this short adventure to the next stop, Haga took the opportunity to get to know the little Snivy better. "So, sweetie, do you feel comfortable telling us how you ended up in the middle of the woodlands?" </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The reptile hesitated for a moment, but then decided there would be no issue telling them, in fact, they hadn’t done anything malicious towards her, so why was she so scared? "I-I come from an orphanage in a village quite far from here, I've been starting to travel just yesterday actually."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Delphox looked at her with a warm smile, "Exploring at such a young age, that's amazing </span>
  <span>sweetie." </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Snivy only continued to look forward, smiling slightly before focusing on the road, she was quite awkward. Haga decided to introduce herself to the youngster. "I'm Haga by the way," she smiled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh I'm... I'm Nara." the young girl responded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Do you have anyone looking for you, Nara?" the large fox asked. "There's no need to answer, only answer what you are comfortable with, sweetie," she added with a warming glow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Umm, I think so. I mean no, I don't have anyone looking for me, I don't tie myself to many friends in the orphanage." Nara’s face was downcast.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that dearie." The canine patted the Snivy's head softly. "Is there anyone you know in the orphanage that could help you? Maybe a supervisor or guardian?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Umm, I think the guardians don't recognise me too much, I sort of stay in my designated room for most of the day." Nara replied.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga scratched her chin, "Well, we can help find a way for you, there is no need to worry, darling," She smiled, "We won't leave you until you find someone that can take you in."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nara gave Haga a weak smile. "Thank you."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Anytime kiddo, we're a team here", the Delphox grinned.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The travellers continued through the dense forest with more difficulty the further they went. It was getting harder to get around without nearly tripping, or losing the path. Mylo couldn't help but admire the lush vegetation, but it also intimidated him, as it felt so easy to get lost, and enemy Pokemon would definitely have the advantage in stalking them as it was hard to spot anything with so much in the way. But he trusted Haga to know how to continue through, she also had an advantage since she was so tall.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We're approaching the village, it's just above the horizon." Haga exclaimed. The roads started to become more smooth and signs began to appear hanging around trees and the sides of the road. Eventually the group had come across a large sign that hung on an arc that stated; </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘Welcome to Virescent Village.’</span>
  </em>
  <span> They had arrived.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the travelers entered the village they were met with many curious eyes, peering from every corner, in the trees, behind bushes, plants, leaves, many of them looked very timid. They halted in their tracks as a Leafeon appeared, she seemed to have authority here, as the others looked at her in respect. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"What is it that you travellers seek in Virescent Village?" Her tone did not necessarily seem welcoming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack approached the Leafeon, completely unfazed by her commanding tone. "Wow, aren’t you funny looking? You’re a Leafeon, right? I’ve never seen one before!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Eeveelution frowned in bewilderment at the Noibat, completely caught aback by his attitude. Nyx elbowed Jack furiously. The bat ignored the ghost’s gesture, and approached the leafed creature, his shadow hand summoned behind the Pokemon and gently scooped it up in his hand. Jack then brought her over to him so he could inspect her closer, his eyes widened in curiosity and wonder, and a smile spread across his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Your leaves are pretty radical, man!"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Leafeon exclaimed in fury. “Put me down this instant, Dark Magic user!” She summoned a leaf blade, sliced Jack's flank, and let herself land back on her paws, this time she was in a battle stance, the inhibitors gasped in shock.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jack, you fucking imbecile! Why did you do that!?” Nyx yelled at the Noibat with frustration.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Noibat stepped back in shock and looked around at everyone. His ears went down, and he proceeded to get in a defensive stance, holding his side where the Leafeon cut him. “Woah woah woah, calm down! I don’t mean you any harm, I just have never seen a Pokemon like her before, I was curious.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The ghost facepalmed at the bat’s reasoning. “There are so many other ways you could have shown that.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Leafeon growled in anger. "What are you plotting here!?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack stepped forward, bearing his little fangs and puffing up completely. “I said, I’m. Not. Plotting. Anything. You could really use a clean up on your attitude, dude.” He poked the Leafeon in the chest with his claw. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nyx softly whispered underneath his breath. “Look who’s talking.” His clawed hand was still over his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The fierce grass Pokemon swiped away the Noibat's claws aggressively. "Get. Your. Claws. Off. Me."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga was in shock for a mere moment before her guardian instincts kicked in. She rushed between them, hands reached out on both sides, signaling them to halt. “Okokok, everyone! Let’s all calm down and relax a bit.” She then faced the Leafeon. “Mam, pardon these childre- I mean my friends over here, they haven't had much sleep and are a little erratic, they mean no harm to you, none of us mean any form of harm towards you," The Delphox said all this in a single breath, leaving her panting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Leafeon raised a brow, she still did not seem fully convinced. "You know, at the start we already were not very comfortable with having a Delphox, a giant fire Pokemon that could incinerate this whole forest, and a Gengar, a ghost Pokemon known for never being up to any good with their trickery, entering our town, but now added to that, a Dark Magic user? It's my job to protect my village, and my sole purpose to defend the lives of the individuals that live here. If I fail, I would never forgive myself. This isn’t the first time Pokemon have threatened this place. What reasoning would you give me to believe you are no threat to us?" Her amber eyes gazed strongly at the fox, seemingly prepared for anything.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m crippled, you walking cabbage!” Haga exclaimed in desperation. “Does it look like I can cast a fire move when my hand is glued on to this walking stick!?” She continued.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nyx barged in. "And I don't give a fuck enough to cast your so called trickery, so if you excuse us, we're all very exhausted, so could you please just be a little bit less ignorant, and let us in?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack was about to snap back, but Mylo held his back by his scruff, giving him a strong look until he calmed down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Leafeon frowned at the fox and the ghost, she did not know how to respond, but she did not seem as hostile as before. Her gaze then moved towards their Eevee acquaintance, who stood slightly behind the group and had been silent this whole time. "An Eevee? Well isn't that interesting. What are you doing alongside these folk?" Suddenly her tone seemed a lot more welcoming, probably since she was of the same species.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Bonnie’s brows furrowed slightly, snapping out of her internal thoughts. “Who knows,” she sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The grass Eeveelution rose her brows. She murmured inaudibly underneath her breath, "You are all… A strange bunch.” She paused. “We could let you in, under one condition. You will be closely watched, so don't think of doing anything stupid." Her expression turned back into a stern glare.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mylo sighed in relief, "Thank god." It nearly came out as a whisper.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The group was finally let through the village. They now had a clearer view of it, and could see the Pokemon that lived inside. They still seemed very fearful of the travelers. The habitants mostly consisted of Grass and Bug type Pokemon, such as Cherrims, Bulbasaurs, Liligants, Hoppips, Bedews, Caterpie, Burmies and more. It wasn’t incredibly populated, the town seemed small and could have been easily missed if they hadn’t searched for it.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn't much to look at in the amount of buildings or population, but it made up for it with its intricate and cozy nature. The civilians appeared to have made themselves homes in the variety of large bushels growing from the biome they inhabited. Large berries grew on the outside exterior that some picked before they walked through the thick soft leaves acting as walls to shelter them, accompanied by torches in mason jars that hung from tree canopies to act as lights.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Despite their shaky welcome, Mylo did enjoy the cozy atmosphere this place had, he hoped that it's inhabitants would learn to not feel fearful of them, and that the Leafeon would loosen up a little. He could understand why she seemed protective of this village, it was a very delicate place, the Eeveelution seemed to be all there was protecting it. He also couldn’t blame her especially after Jack’s rather absurd introduction.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Haga took a moment to view the area around them, amazed by it’s delicate and almost claustrophobic environment which was different to what she was used to, it had been a long time since she had left the wide swamplands of Aldora. She then turned to look at the starved group, they needed to recharge fast. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Pardon me miss, do you happen to have a place where we could grab something to eat? We are slightly deprived of food. Also, sorry I called you a walking cabbage. Reflexes y'know?" the fox awkwardly rubbed her paw at the back of her head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Leafeon glared at Haga for a couple moments before responding. She seemed hesitant. "Alright, we do have a place to eat. Follow me." The Eeveelution took them to a burrow that was protected by leaves and brambles. Inside were several Pokemon gathered around, eating berries on leaves as placemats. There was a fallen log that was carved to be used as a bar, and behind it stood an Eldegoss who seemed to be the one serving food here. "You can order food from here, make sure to not scare the Pokemon, please." The Leafeon instructed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"We'll be on our best behavior," Haga implied, nudging at Jack slightly. The Noibat looked up at her and smiled naughtily.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the group ordered their food, they sat down and enjoyed it on a small wooden platform. Haga nudged Jack in a concealed manner, and gestured to bring him forward as she whispered, "Sweetie, as impressive as your ability is, you mustn't forget that people not only here but many other places see Dark Magic as a corrupted art," she patted his head softly. "Promise me you'll try to keep a low profile with that magic of yours, will you sweetie?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack looked at her, then down at his feet, his ears going back. "Yes, I promise, Haga."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you, Jack,” the Delphox then said with a mouth full of berries.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As time went on, the darkness crept back into the woods. The travelers decided this was their queue to go seek out a place to slumber, to with the Leafeon had led the tired bunch to an Inn of some sorts.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was made up of several connecting burrows, sheltered using brambles and leaves, similar to the food place. These burrows however were much deeper, and led into tunnels that had several dug-in rooms, each using leaves and vines as curtains for privacy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack and Mylo entered a room that was decorated in vines and moss, in the centre laid two bulky patches of hay, they seemed to serve as the beds. It was definitely the most primitive rooming situation Mylo has been in since Tekani, however it definitely looked a lot more comfortable than the Hollows. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack, as always when they entered a new room, threw himself full force across and onto the hay pile, lying face down on it, and letting out a very deep sigh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Tired?" Mylo laid down on the hay pile beside Jack's, looking down at his exhausted friend. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Noibat nodded his head and didn't look up, mumbling something incoherent into it as though the Luxio could actually hear him through the damn stuff. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The feline laid his head down on the soft pile of hay, and curled his tail around his own body to keep himself warm. Jack kept murmuring into it, waving his wings about and pointing his finger and kicking his feet really hard and fast before stopping and just lying there still.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mylo chuckled. "Uhuh, sure."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack turned his head all of a sudden with tears streaming down his eyes and angrily screeched in his direction. “Were you even listening to me!?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Luxio widened his eyes. "Dude, I couldn't even understand you, you were muffling into the hay." He then had a small frown slip onto his face.<em> "</em></span>
  <em>
    <span><em>God what’s up with him today?"</em> </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Jack sniffed and wiped his eyes and just sat there, tears just on the cusp as he looked away from the blue and black cat, and spoke very softly, "It's just… It's not my fault no one taught me magic, I did it all on my own. Why does it have to be on me to hide this part of myself? Especially since I did so much work to get where I am today… Away from everything that once was."</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mylo raised his head from the hay, and looked at the bat with soft sympathetic eyes, despite not having a clue what the bat was speaking of. "I- I'm sorry that you feel like that... I know I don't really understand magic and stuff, but I don't care about that, I care about you as my friend, and you've been a really great one. You may have to hide some parts of yourself in front of others for your own safety, but you don't have to hide yourself from me, remember I told you that?"</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The Noibat looked at him straight in the eyes, "I-I need to get some fresh air before bed, it's not you I-I just… give me a minute, I'll be back soon." As he turned, he thought about the cat's words, and how if he knew about what he did in his past, surely he'd take those words back in a heartbeat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Mylo nodded, and watched Jack leave the room. He rested his chin back on his paws, and focused his attention on the streak of moonlight that trickled into the den. He felt tired but his worry for his friend was keeping his mind busy at the moment.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>lmao i'm trying to put nara's reference photo here but its not working lol i'll make it work eventually.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Mind Flayer</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Old wounds are starting to reveal themselves, and things begin to escalate as the group of unlikely travelers are thrown into their first large scale battle.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yo finally some proper action and team building ;o</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jack strolled through the bushes, he could feel soft leaves stroke his skin, and the cool air of the night made his cheeks wet with tears feel cold. He looked up into the sky and saw the big full moon hanging above him. The Noibat took off upwards and sat on the branch he found with the best view of the moon. He let the tears roll down, not making him breathe strangely or frown, just letting them go as they came.</p><p>Further up the tree was a dark silhouette of a ghost sitting on another branch of just about a level higher. The paranormal creature noticed the wailing bat way before he would notice him. His scarlet eyes were narrowly fixed on the distressed individual, but they softened as he began to hear the desperate sobs. Nyx got up, and swiftly glided towards the branch he was sitting on.</p><p>"You good, dude?"</p><p>Jack shook his head, and let more sobs roll out. The ghost felt sort of hopeless and awkward in the situation, he didn't know how to comfort him, but he also didn't want him to keep crying. He decided to sit down next to the Noibat with a comfortable distance, and gazed out at the moon, just as he did.</p><p>The sorrowful bat gently scooted towards the Gengar and hugged him very softly. He sniffled and let himself feel comforted by the ghost's presence. </p><p>Nyx flinched in discomfort, and nearly jumped away in instinct. Physical touch felt foreign and nerve-wracking to him, but he let it go as he knew the Noibat was going through some things and needed this, in the end it wasn't really for him. He remained quiet and tensed, letting Jack use this moment for himself.</p><p>Jack spoke after his tear fountain had stopped, still gently holding on to the Gengar, "Nyx, have you ever felt like an outsider… even to yourself?"</p><p>He hesitated before responding, a strong force inside him wanted to prevent him from answering honestly, but this time was different, the ghost suddenly felt vulnerable, something he hated deeply. "... I guess you could say so," he still remained with a stoic tone.</p><p>The bat squeezed him a little tighter, causing Nyx to further tense up in discomfort. "Nyx, I've done bad things, really bad things that I didn't mean, and I know you've been through things you regret too, so what I'm trying to say here is… When we feel this way, let's be outsiders together."</p><p>The words struck Nyx like a sharp dagger, he had done many things he regretted, so the Noibat was definitely not wrong there, he just didn’t know how to process this strangely timed sensitive moment. He also didn't know how to feel about being grouped up with this practical stranger, Jack didn't know anything about him. It felt all too sudden, and out of nowhere. "... Ok."</p><p>Jack sat there still hugging the Gengar, but eventually slowly moved away from him, recognizing that he was naturally uncomfortable to touch. He went back to staring up at the moon, feeling like it sucked all the bad right out of him, purifying him of his sins.</p><p>Nyx thought for a moment before saying anything. "So... I feel like there's been something on your mind in particular, since the library." He had noticed the Noibat’s behavior slightly changed ever since their visit there, figuring maybe that bringing that up could lead to a conversation which could possibly cause the bat to focus on speaking instead of crying, which would be a lot less awkward.</p><p>The small dragon didn't look at him, but a slight smile grew on his face, since the disgruntled ghost somehow cared to notice something about someone else. It made him feel good that it was him. "Yeah, you could say that."</p><p>"Hm, I figured." The Gengar gazed back at the full moon, it was nice to see it this way, without any clouds in the way. Just hanging there, as if it was desperately trying to remind everyone of its existence.</p><p>Jack thought for a long moment, trying to restrain himself from saying the following, but he couldn’t keep it in any longer. Nyx could possibly be his only shot at letting this out. He seemed like the person who would least likely judge him, or react in shock. Besides, he had the feeling that the ghost wasn't planning on sticking around for too long, so it was better to let this out to him than to Mylo. </p><p>"Nyx, I killed someone. In an accident, when we were kids. He was my best friend, and no one ever knew, because no one could know I used Dark Magic. It was the worst mistake of my life, and I will never be able to forgive myself," he blurted it out.</p><p>Nyx glared at him, his red eyes were wide in shock, but his overall demeanor still seemed calm. This was definitely not what he was expecting. He was caught off guard by Jack just letting out such a dark information about himself, despite barely knowing him, they were practically strangers. Imagining the upbeat Noibat having blood on his hands felt unsettling. Jack was a good person, at least he thought. </p><p>"Wow. Yeah that…” He paused. “You really carried that with you by yourself for so long?" He tried his best to not make him uncomfortable by reacting in shock, because he knew that would just make things worse.</p><p>Jack nodded, still staring at the moon. "His name was Zero. He was a Houndour, and was my only friend. He was a good person, and I want you to know about him, because he deserves to be known, even if you’re the only one. I don't care if your opinion about me changes from now on. Honestly that would be the punishment I deserve, losing everyone I care about, a payback for my crime," the Noibat’s voice trembled.</p><p>The Gengar frowned at his final statement, "You really think I have the right to judge you?" His tone was self mocking, but it had sincerity. He did mean it, he didn't feel like he deserved to judge anyone for the matter, he wasn't a great person himself. </p><p>"Look, you're a good person, at least I think, I mean I don't really know. I only met you a couple days ago. Yeah, you’re kind of annoying sometimes, but I've seen you when you stand up for others, and care for them, that already makes you so much better than the average person, and a lot better than me," he continued.</p><p>The bat looked at him with wide eyes, and gave him a weak smile. "That... Was actually really nice. I didn't expect that coming from you of all people," he chuckled. "Your words mean a lot more than you know, and you are very well spoken. For what it's worth, I think you're a pretty cool neutral guy yourself, Nyx." He then jokingly bumped him in the side, not hard.</p><p><em> "This guy is so strange,"  </em>Nyx thought. The ghost let out a tiny grin. "Aight, whatever you say, sir."</p><p>The Noibat’s mouth dropped, and stood up on his legs and pointed, “Oh my god- You fucking smiled, holy shit!” </p><p>The Gengar's smile immediately faded into a frown. "Wha- Shut up!”</p><p>Jack danced around on the branch and flew up in the air in excitement. “I made you smile I made you smile I made you smile! Heheehee!” The bat squeaked in glee.</p><p>The ghost sighed, "The moment is long gone."</p><p>The Noibat plopped back down on the tree branch and put his claws gently on the Gengar’s arm. "Seriously though, thank you. Really."</p><p>"No problem, I guess," he responded, puzzled by how thankful he seemed.</p><p>Jack looked at Nyx for a little while longer with a soft smile before letting out a large yawn, reminding him of his absolute exhaustion from the massive trip they had just gone through.</p><p>"Hey, it's been nice talking to you, but I feel like I'm gonna pass out at any moment, so Imma go hit the hay now. Don't stay out here too long, man. Goodnight."</p><p>Nyx couldn’t help but continuously feel puzzled by the bat's transition from literally sobbing and telling him his darkest secret to now giggling and flapping about, all in the span of a couple minutes.<em> "How the hell does he do it?" </em></p><p>"Don’t get nightmares this time,” the Gengar swiftly quipped as he realized he had fallen into a brief silence due to being wrapped in his thoughts.</p><p>Jack paused for a moment, and couldn’t help but let out a spontaneous grin which nearly turned into a giggle, “Ok, if you say so.”</p><p>With that, the Noibat fluttered off, back into the small village. He landed back on the forest floor, and entered the tunnels in which the rest were sound asleep. He came back into the room and saw Mylo asleep as though he'd been knocked out for a century. The flying type Pokemon took his spot, but before laying down he whispered in the cat’s direction, "Thank you for still being here." He then laid down and drifted off and away.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Before anyone could really tell, the night had taken over the sky, consuming the village into its dark body. The lanterns placed outside started to become more noticeably glowing now that it was the main light source. The village was left with only the guide of the lanterns and the great moon that stood above them all, or so it seemed. This night a strange light was seen to be glowing in the woods. The pitch black darkness of the forest was gone, yet the fear of what lurked behind the trees still remained. </p><p>Tentacles slithered slowly past the trees, and from this eerie lit forest emerged a towering Malamar. It floated steadily towards its next prey, the village. House by house, the Malamar passed, glancing in the windows of each one, sometimes glaring at solid walls as if it could see movement right through the heavy bark. The Dark type Pokemon finally stopped when it approached a particular house, it glared inside and this time, it remained there. The squid slowly floated towards the door, but was met with a lock. Without a reaction, the Malamar decided to hover to the other direction, towards the window where the bedroom was. It grinned as it finally found what it wanted. It's body glowed and pulsated a symphony of colors, glowing brighter second by second, until eventually the unlucky few that lived inside the house glanced at the disturbing lights, little did they know that those would be the last set of lights they would come across for a while.</p><p>It took a few seconds but rustling and sounds of objects crashing to the floor from within the house were heard. This was followed by a loud banging of the main door, sounding like two fists originally but then grew into the sound of six fists banging on the main door at the same time. Finally, the door of the house broke down, followed by a Lurantis, Simisage, and a Gogoat, barging outside. They appeared to be normal, no physical features seemed to have changed from a first glance, but when looked at again, their eyes had an odd bewitching glow to them, almost pink with an occasional flash of yellow. They were gone, these were not the Pokémon that went through their day yesterday. These were walking husks, mindless weights. They moved an orderly fashion towards the Malamar, marching almost. Their gazes were focused slightly up from the ground, it wasn't a casual star gazing, they gazed up at the sky aimlessly. </p><p>Together, with the Malamar, the hypnotised Pokémon marched back into the forest, disappearing for about an hour. As they returned, there were much more than three unlucky souls. The dark eerie forest was lit up with flashing colors. Eyes everywhere sprouted open, showing a collection of victims who had met the hypnotic lights. What seemed to be a small group of hypnotised souls had become an army in a mere instant. The Malamar had found its prey, and it was starving, ready to feast as the whole army of puppets rushed towards Virescent village.</p><p> </p><p>Haga had awoken from an eerie flash outside that was hard to ignore. Instead of peering through the window, she attempted to close the blinds to block it out, but as she did she was met with the sounds of banging on the door that lead to the underground passage to their rooms. The bangs did not sound pleasant. It wasn't erratic knocking, nor was it a gentle one. It was just heavy almost robotic slamming. It had a constant and repetitive hitting pattern.</p><p>“Umm everyone, I think we have company, and they don’t sound friendly,” Haga called out in an alerted tone.</p><p>Jack burst through his den. "Haga?! What's going o- oh dear Arceus."</p><p>Mylo woke up, still dazed from sleep, but he was definitely panicked and alerted. "Wh- what's happening!?" His voice trembled.</p><p>In the hallway of the house, Haga had aimed her staff towards the rushing Lurantis, before hesitating slightly. "<em> It's probably a civilian, just restrict its movements, non lethal damage, Haga,"  </em>she told herself. Before the Delphox finished casting a spell, the Lurantis quickly rushed and clamped onto her staff, tugging hard at it. However, it wasn't enough, as the witch had completed the spell and the Lurantis was entangled with vines sprouted from the ground, pulling it down and restricting it to the floor.</p><p>The fox then turned to the 2 younger boys, “There seems to be some sort of attack, I think we are dealing with mind control. Prepare yourselves, and avoid lethal damage to the civilians!”</p><p>Jack flew up to the top of the room and yelled at the top of his lungs, "I'll go check on the civilians outside and try and restrict them to the best of my ability." and with that, he flew out of the bushel.</p><p>“I got one down, but by the sound of chaos outside I'm guessing there will be many more coming." Haga added.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>High from the trees, Nyx's attention was caught by the chaos going down in the village. He heard lots of strange banging, and yelling, and noticed the strange lighting. He got up, and stealthily phased down to a lower branch to get a better view on what was going on. The ghost began to notice the soulless demeanours of the Pokemon who seemed to be making all the noise, he didn't quite understand what was going on.</p><p>Jack soared in the sky above the small village, looking down below at the disarray of civilians wandering around mindlessly, their glowing eyes amassing to something horrifyingly beautiful from the skies. The Noibat swooped down on two Bulbasaurs he saw and dodged their vines as he hesitatingly hit their heads together to knock them out. He then took them to the safety of the high up tree branches, securing them with vines hanging down, tying them to the large tree trunk. He spotted Nyx in one of the branches and flapped over to him.</p><p>The Gengar noticed Jack flying down from the shadows. "Jack! What the hell is going on!?" He called out to him.</p><p>The bat approached closer so they could speak, but he made sure to say it as clearly and fast as possible, "Haga said that there might be mind control involved, the civilians have already fallen victim to it.”</p><p>Nyx narrowed his eyes, “What the-”</p><p>Jack noticed a hint of fear in the ghost’s eyes, it was very buried but he knew fear when he saw it. “Nyx, we gotta rally and do our best to help them. Even if this might be an ugly battle, we have to help these people,” he gave him a quick smile.</p><p>The bat then raised his voice with slight excitement, “Come on, get down there and do what you can." And with that he took off back down.</p><p>Nyx took a moment, he knew this fight would be rough, and how much easier it would be for him to run away. Run like he always did. But no, he couldn't do that, not after that talk with Jack. The Gengar leaped down from the tree and flew down in the village's core, it was only then when he realized how many Pokemon were actually manipulated. He prepared his Shadow Ball as blue sparks emitted from him, and got into a battle stance, ready for attack. He could feel his heart racing to the moon. </p><p> </p><p>As the chaos manifested through the village, Haga burst through the door of the inn, pacing around to find the source of the light, but was met with horror. Pokemon everywhere seemed to be hypnotised, others ran away from the village into the forest. "We need to find the source of the hypnosis. If we stop it, the rest will stop!" she shouted. </p><p>Mylo ran outside the den, and landed himself in the centre of chaos along with the others, he had no idea what the hell had just happened, but it looked awful. The Luxio prepared a Discharge as soon as he noticed the attention of 3 soulless Pokemon making eye contact, and charging at him. He released a large burst of high voltage in his surroundings, it seemed to be effective against 2 of the attacking Pokemon, but 1 of them brushed it off easily, and continued in pursuit, clashing against Mylo and throwing him into the bramble walls.</p><p>After flying back and forth to secure as many of the villagers as he could, Jack's head was spinning, and his heart was pounding. <em>“I just have to keep going. I have to help, I have to do what I can to help out here, I've got to-” </em>He was rammed in the side by something, and it knocked the complete wind out of him. He lay in the dirt with his eyes closed for a moment, feeling a shadow then covering him there, and when he opened his eyes, he was stunned. Unable to move.</p><p>"Z-Zero?"</p><p> </p><p>Mylo let out a yell, he managed to decipher the Pokemon that was attacking him, it was a Krokorok, a ground type. Made sense why his attack did not seem effective. The Krokorok continued to push the Luxio into the brambles, causing the thorns to jab into his back. In his panic, Mylo harshly bit into the Crocodilian's arm, digging his fangs deep into its scaly skin, causing it to loosen its grip, allowing him to escape from the trapped position.</p><p>On the other side of the battlefield, Haga started slinging knock out bolts, which dazed and blacked out the rushing hypnotized Pokémon. However, as she was preparing to cast another bolt, she was met with a heavy bludgeoning strike from a Gogoat, sending her to the hard ground, grunting in pain. She quickly regained herself on her legs, only to be met with another strike headed for her head. This time the fox parried the strike with her staff, leaving a trading of strikes and blocks, slowly forcing her back as the headbutts were very forceful and strong. Haga aimed to hit a bolt at the charging Gogoat, but instead it had struck the staff head on, shattering the witch’s staff into splinters. She watched in horror as her only tool for controlling magic shattered in front of her. This was it, she was defenceless, there was only one thing she could do now. </p><p>The Delphox’s eyes closed as her hands started emitting a dark radiance, signaling the preparation for a Dark Magic spell. To the right of the Gogoat, a Spectral Hand, the color of night had manifested, growing to the size of a table, striking the Pokemon unconscious.</p><p> </p><p>Jack stood up on his feet and swayed slightly like a baby deer standing for the first time, his eyes as wide as saucers. "Z- Zero please, I didn't mean to-'' a direct hit in his jaw caused him to fall on the ground. He laid there stunned, the tears began to roll again. “I didn’t mean to! You gotta know I never meant to kill you, I loved you so much! Please Zero, please forgive me! Give me back my chance at life, please-” </p><p>The hypnotised Houndour took its hind legs and kicked Jack across into a rock, he let it happen. He was gonna finally let it happen to him, let this thing do to him what Zero could never do for himself.</p><p> </p><p>From the dens that the group had resided in, popped out an Eevee and a Snivy, both gazing out into the battlefield that had just emerged out of nowhere.</p><p>"What the hell happened here?" Bonnie muttered.</p><p>Nara's eyes were wide-set in fear, her body was trembling. She wanted to crawl back away into the den, but she felt her body freeze up.</p><p>The Eevee beside her looked back at her, noticing her fearful behavior. "Don't piss yourself, I'm sure with those leaves of yours you'll be able to hide away from danger without a scratch. Plus, these don't look like Shadow Pokemon, I think some psychic bastard must've hypnotized them or something. Anyways, that means they won't be nearly as dangerous."</p><p>The Snivy had no clue how to respond to the chestnut furred mammal's wit, in fact it didn't really make her feel all that better. "Wh-what if we lose? What if they kill us!?" she whimpered.</p><p>"Oh god, give it a rest. Just go back in the den, I'll let you know if anything comes this way." Just as Bonnie spoke these exact words, the attention of a hypnotized Linoone had been caught by them as she locked eyes with it. </p><p>"Go inside, now!" The Eevee used her hind legs to kick the Snivy full force back into the den without any hesitation, which completely had caught Nara off guard, but it was enough to snap her out of her paralyzed state. The emerald reptilian did so as commanded, and scurried further back into the den and hid herself behind the hanging vines.</p><p>Bonnie growled, and put herself in a battling position to face the Linoone. The long mammal's movements were fairly sluggish, which made it easy for her to outdo it's agility. She hopped from one side to the other to confuse it, and then used the outer mossy walls of the den as leverage to jump over the Linoone's attack, and fall down on to it's body, knocking it down on the ground in a steady grip with her paws.</p><p>The Eevee gazed around, trying to find some way to restrict this hypnotized individual, until an idea had hit her. With her jaws, she grabbed on to some vines that hung above her, and tightly tied them around the Linoone, causing it to be tied up fully.</p><p>"That should keep you there long enough until your hypnosis or whatever fades off," she muttered to the mammal who could probably not understand a word she was saying.</p><p>From back in the den, two glistening red eyes watched the entire exchange with wonder. Nara slowly creeped back out, and crawled back towards Bonnie who was at the entrance of the den.</p><p>"That was really cool, how did you do that?" she asked.</p><p>"Improv," Bonnie shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>As Mylo managed to deal with the Krokorok after a struggle, he looked across the battlefield, and couldn't help but notice Jack getting trashed around by one of the puppets. But something was off, he seemed to have surrendered, or had at least given up the battle. The Houndour continuously threw the Noibat around, scratching, biting, and pounding him, without him doing anything in return, which was very unlike him. </p><p>Just as the feline tried to intervene, the Krokorok leaped back for him, attacking him once more. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his friend was in danger and he couldn't reach him. Out of instinct and desperation, he cried out to him, hoping he'd hear, “Jack! Jack get up! You have to fight!”</p><p>Jack heard a voice. One that brought him back to the future, one who made him feel like he had a chance at life beyond what happened to him in the past. He opened his eyes, and saw a blue blob come into focus as he took hit after hit, and knew it to be none other than Mylo calling out to him. He needed him. He said he needed him to fight, so that was what he did.</p><p>"Zero, I know it’s not really you, but I'm sorry. I have someone I need to stick around for." </p><p>The bat leapt forward towards the hypnotized canine, and suddenly an explosion of purple smoke manifested, making a sound so loud it shook the ground and knocked all the Pokemon that stood on their feet to the floor. The smoke flew up into the air, from which a large flash manifested. As it began to clear away, it first revealed a pair of jet black wings, purple decorating their edges, the color deep enough to please royalty. Large ears round and twitching all about, and the most piercing yellow eyes.</p><p>Jack had evolved.</p><p>He let out a screech so ear piercing one might have been driven mad if they listened to it for any longer than a minute. He then charged forward at the now less than impressive Houndour, ready to give everything his all.</p><p>Mylo stared up in bewilderment at Jack's dramatic transformation, his golden eyes were wide and shimmering in the bright light that the newly evolved Pokemon emitted.</p><p>Nyx looked up as well, he froze in shock, ignoring the battle around him, as many of the other Pokemon did as well. Time seemed to have stopped for a brief moment.</p><p>Haga's gaze joined that of the rest of the battlefield, up at the sky, locking eyes with the brand new Noivern. She smiled, and couldn’t help but feel proud.</p><p> </p><p>The Noivern took off into the air, taking out the Houndour in one shot. He then dove downward, crashing into the earth below him, putting himself between Haga and the Pokemon encroaching on her. The dragon let out a rumbling growl, and then looked back at her and gave a sly grin, "I'll take the right, you take the left?"</p><p>"Sounds like a plan," The Delphox chuckled.</p><p>Jack took his massive wing and knocked all the Pokemon in front of him out of his way and felt something well in his chest, he decided to roll with it. He expelled the energy out through his throat, blasting them all out of the way, knocking them out instantaneously as they hit their respective surroundings.</p><p>Mylo gazed in awe at Jack's new appearance, he could have never expected him to turn into such a powerful dragon Pokemon, especially his size and wingspan surprised him. The Noivern seemed unstoppable now. The Luxio grinned widely, it gave him a buzz of energy to continue to battle, resuming to take out the opposing Krokorok.</p><p>Nyx proceeded to continue fighting off the Pokemon that were attacking him previously, he managed to knock out the Cacturne with a poison move, however unfortunately after his relief came more Pokemon launching at him.</p><p>Haga had noticed the troubled Gengar, but had also realized that from around the corner of her eye she finally saw it. A huge, towering, menacing squid-like creature. A Malamar. It stood there, floating, a distance away. The Delphox quickly summoned a Spectral Hand to assist Nyx in removing one hypnotised soul from the picture and delaying the others from attacking too aggressively.</p><p>"I'm going after that damned undercooked squid kebab," she fumed.</p><p>The ghost looked over at Haga, surprised to see her help him here. As he spotted the tall menacing dark type Pokemon appear from the shadows of the forest, he felt his body shiver in fear, but he was quick to push it down for now. "I'll help out, you'll need it against that thing."</p><p> </p><p>Mylo finally managed to approach Jack in the midst of battle, and stood by him, watching his back. "Dude, you look amazing!" the Luxio yelled over the chaos surrounding them as he slashed at enemy Pokemon.</p><p>The Noivern looked over at the feline who was now much shorter than him. He gave him a big toothy grin, showing off his massive fangs. “Thanks dude!” The dragon then proceeded to cast an even more massive shadow hand to start punching with and ripped towards the Malamar where Haga and Nyx were.</p><p>Haga started sprinting towards the tall squid-like creature that was floating there eerily, waiting for them. She ran on her two feet as if she were not crippled. The Dark Magic she used seemed to have done some temporary repairs to her, as she was much more energetic than she ever was. </p><p>"I have no clue why you would do this, nor do I care!” She aimed a Spectral Hand towards the Malamar, but with its speed, it simply dodged it. This trading continued for a while with the dark Pokemon dodging attacks as if they were nothing.</p><p>Finally, the Malamar decided to make a move, and shined its lights like a symphony once again, right in front of Haga. “Everyone, close your eyes!” she yelled as she sprouted a barrier behind her so no one else would be hit with the hypnotic lights. </p><p>Nyx closed his eyes accordingly, and covered his face with his arm, keeping himself behind Haga. Mylo shut his eyes as well, he kept his head low to the ground in a crouched position. Jack shielded himself inside his giant wings. </p><p>Without a quick enough reflex, Haga's eyes lingered at the lights, and her surroundings went dark.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>It was pitch black here, wherever the witch was. The floor was solid however, so she could walk.<em>  "D-did I lose?" </em> she thought. Haga then saw images manifest in front of her. </p><p>“B-brother?" she managed to say.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>Nyx noticed how the lights seemed to have stopped, but as he turned around he saw that the Delphox was unresponsive. He assumed the worst, which struck him with a wave of fear.</p><p>Mylo and Jack also saw Haga standing frozen. The ghost signalled at them to back away.</p><p>"Wh-what's with her?" The Luxio asked with concern.</p><p>As the Gengar responded to Mylo’s question, his gaze was still locked to the Delphox, "I think the Malamar... got her." He and the rest continued to back away, staring at Haga in dread and worry.</p><p>"... She's strong, she can fight this." Jack murmured.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>A grey colored Delphox, supposedly a shiny looked at Haga with a blank face, his eyes seemingly passing right through her, "Why didn't you save us, Haga?" he said. "Why did you leave us there to rot?"</p><p>"I… There was a blizzard I-I couldn't find any of you, I-I assumed the worst," her voice started to shake.</p><p>"Your assumption is the reason we are dead, sister." Her brother’s voice was eerily monotone.</p><p>"I-I wonder how they will feel once they find out you're a murderer. A big strong witch on the outside, but once they know the truth will they even come near you?" There was silence for a period of time. "Forty years. Still a weak pathetic wretch"</p><p>Haga couldn't say anything. She was in too much shock to think at all. Her brother, who she had thought was dead for years, was standing right in front of her. She continued to look at him in complete bewilderment.</p><p>"I...I'm sorry brother", is all she managed to say. "I searched and searched and never found any of you. I couldn't protect you, and now I can't even protect my own friends against that Malam-" Suddenly her mind clicked something. </p><p>"Malamar." she said to herself.</p><p>"That's right, look at yourself, your friends are dy-" </p><p>"Shut it for a second" The shiny Delphox was interrupted. Haga looked at her brother in front of her, it wasn't him, it couldn't be. She was on a battlefield, why would she see a dead man right now of all times. </p><p>The witch walked up towards the grey fox, and placed a hand on him, only to have it pass through. "If you can hear this, Malamar, I'd suggest holding your breath." she exhaled. The witch manifested a Spectral Hand once again, and this time struck it towards the infinite darkness she was surrounded in, resulting in it colliding and shattering, breaking back into reality. The Spectral Hand managed to break through and landed square onto the large squid, knocking it back onto the floor.</p><p> </p><p>“Holy shit!” Nyx exclaimed. The ghost, feline and dragon all gasped in shock, not expecting the sudden burst coming from the tall fox.</p><p>“I told you guys! <em> Woohoo!” </em> Jack shouted in excitement.</p><p>The Malamar grunted as it collapsed onto the floor, looking up at the menacing fox that approached it. A Spectral Hand appeared again, this time grasping the hypnotic Pokemon in place, pinning him onto the floor. "I know as a fact Malamars don't have a large enough appetite to eat an entire village, so I'm going to give you to the count of three to tell me who you are and what the hell you want before you lose a dimension from your three dimensional form."</p><p>"One"</p><p>"We could always discuss another method to help ease our situa-” the Malamar responded with unease.</p><p>"Two"</p><p>“What is it that you want!? Money!? Power!? An Army!? I have an endless army at your dispos-” Panic began to grow in the dark type Pokemon’s voice.</p><p>“Thr-”</p><p>“Ok ok ok ok! I was sent here on a mission!” the Malamar surrendered. </p><p>"Mission?" The Delphox closed in with curiosity as she narrowed her gaze.</p><p>"I-I was sent here to... to-"</p><p>"To?" Haga raised her voice.</p><p>"I-I can't tell you that," the Malamar muttered.</p><p>"Sooo, death huh. That can easily be arranged." The witch coiled her Spectral Hand up, showing no mercy. However, before she could land the finishing blow, the Malamar pulled an unexpected move. </p><p>“Abra, take me back!” he yelled. From a close distance, an unlucky Abra that had been taken control of began emitting a bright aura as it cast a psychic move, following its commanders orders. With a bright flash, the Malamar had slipped underneath the earth, teleporting away.</p><p>"Where'd he go!?" Mylo glanced around in confusion.</p><p>Nyx let out a swear in frustration. "He used the Abra's teleport to get away."</p><p>Jack screeched in anger and punched the ground with his fist. “Fucker can’t even stay to truly face her off, what a little skeez.”</p><p>The Gengar took a moment to internalize what just happened. "I've never seen anything like this before, a Malamar infiltrating a whole village... The attack seemed so coordinated, it wasn't random at all. And it wasn't even a Shadow Pokemon... What the hell is going on here?" The ghost gazed around at the broken aftermath of the once peaceful village. </p><p>Jack looked at Mylo’s face for comfort since he felt nervous from Nyx’s words. </p><p>The Luxio glared back at the Noivern, but with the same nervousness in his eyes. He may not remember much, but this was by far the most intense battle he had faced so far. The feline sat down, and let out a sigh of exhaustion. It was only now when he started to feel his bruises and wounds.</p><p> </p><p>Out of the rubble, came a limping Leafeon. She had a trickle of blood run down her face, and some nasty wounds on her shoulders and paws. She gave the travelers and icy cold glare. "I... I don't know what you have brought... But you should leave. Now." Her voice sounded out of breath, but very serious, and bitter.</p><p>"Excuse me!? If it weren't for us your village would have been long gone by now!" Nyx protested. Little hints of blue sparks emitted from the Gengar out of anger.</p><p>Haga turned around, looking at the wounded Leafeon, and very slowly approached her. She bowed down to her level, and gazed at her with sympathy and slight pity in her eyes. The Delphox then spoke quietly so only she could hear him. “I understand you’re hurt, and confused, and only want to protect your people. If you wish us to be gone, we will go, but do not dare blame my friends and I for what happened here when we put ourselves on the line for you strangers.”</p><p>The wounded Pokemon looked surprised by the fox's response. Her gaze softened, there was a lot of pain behind her amber eyes. She bowed her head down, looking at her paws and nodded. "I'm sorry. I am grateful for what you all did back there. I know this may seem harsh, but I don't think it will be best for you to stay. The villagers are just scared and confused, and will look for things to blame. It's safer for you all to leave as soon as possible. I can't provide you any equipment for your journey because I would prefer to keep what we have left for my own people, I pray that you understand." Her voice was a lot less harsh now, and much more quiet, but also had a sense of desperation.</p><p>Haga nodded, and then moved back towards the others. From behind her, Jack popped out with a large grin, putting his wings around Nyx, Mylo, and Haga. “I think we’ll be ok, as long as we have each other, this band of misfits will find a way to get where and what we need. You take care of your people, we will leave at once when we’ve collected our things.”</p><p>Mylo smiled at Jack with glimmering eyes, he was proud of how much he had grown after this battle, and not just Jack, but the group themselves, he felt like their bond had strengthened. He couldn't quite understand why, but it made him happy.</p><p>Jack released his grip on the others, and walked forward on all fours to the bush where he and Mylo resided to collect his bag, but held his head high. It felt like a weight had been lifted off from his heart, as though someone who had been clenching something finally released it from his palm. He looked behind him at his new family he had made, Nyx pouting off at the side, and Mylo letting Haga use him for extra balance along with her cane, and from the other side of the village came Bonnie and Nara.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>"Zero, I promise I won’t mess this one up. I won’t throw this chance away."</em>
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  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hmmm i wonder where tf that malamar went off to,,</p>
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